The Essar Group-owned BPL Mobile has called off its proposed sale to HEL. HEL had made a written offer to Essar and the allied parties (BPL Mobile, BPL Communications and Global Capital), asking them to conclude the sale of BPL Mobile’s Mumbai operations by the end of the validity period of July 31. The Essar Group has reportedly blamed the collapse of the deal on the failure to get requisite government approvals on time. However, it is speculated that the deal fell through because the proposed merger would require the combined entity to surrender up to 15 MHz of already scarce spectrum, which would affect the future growth of the merged entity, in which Essar owned a sizeable stake.
