Norwegian telecom operator Telenor Group has informed that it has increased its stake in Telewings to 100% by acquiring the remaining 26% stake held by its Indian partner Lakshdeep Investment & Finance. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it's worth noting that Telenor had received an approval for an investment of Rs 780.86 crore from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) last month. Telenor had sought for FIPB approval to buy out its minority stakeholders in Uninor in June this year and had stated plans of investing Rs 780 crore to acquire the 26% stake owned by its Indian partner Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd in the joint venture Telewings that provides telecom services in the country under the Uninor brand. This was after the Indian government allowed 100% FDI in telecom in July last year. Telenor is currently operational in six circles - UP East, UP West, Bihar & Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. The telco had earlier shut down operations in seven of thirteen operational telecom circles in 2012 and in Q1 2013, including the sudden shutdown of operations in the Mumbai circle. However, it later acquired spectrum in a new circle of Assam and additional spectrum in four of its six existing circles in the 1800 MHz band – UP East, UP West, Bihar & Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh in the February 2014 2G auctions. The company expects to launch services in Assam early next year. Other telcos: Vodafone had also bought out its minority stakeholders Piramal Enterprises & Analjit Singh for Rs 10,141 crore in April this year, to increase its stake in Vodafone India to 100%. Singtel’s proposal to…
