Bharti Airtel has emerged as the frontrunner for acquiring Loop Mobile, which provides telecom services in the Mumbai circle.
Bharti Airtel is in talks with the Khaitan Holdings Group, represented by Dubai-based industrialist IP Khaitan and family, the owners of Loop Mobile for the acquisition. It is believed that the two players have been carrying out discussions regarding the licence fee to be paid by Loop Telecom for the renewal of its licence which is due on September 2014. In addition, the operators are also awaiting the government?s final merger and acquisition (M&A) guidelines before deciding on the valuation of the company. The government is expected to come out with an M&A policy over the next few months.
In case Bharti Airtel goes ahead with the deal, the operator will have access to 8 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz band which is known to be more efficient as it requires less denser network of tower sites and therefore calls for lower capital investments. Currently, Bharti Airtel provides telecom services using spectrum in the 1800 MHz band.
Currently, Loop Mobile is the fourth-largest operator in Mumbai with a subscriber base of 3 million.
