Will Sun Pharma partner Telenor in India?

Looks like Norwegian firm Telenor has finally found a new partner for its telecom operations in India. Sun Pharma lead by Dilip Shanghvi, who recently debuted on the Forbes rich list, is looking to buy 26 percent stake in Telenor's Indian mobile phone operations, Bloomberg reported today.

The formal announcement with operational and financial details is expected later today, said the report. The deal will allow Telenor to bid in the upcoming 2G auctions through this new company as local rules do not permit a foreign firm to hold more than 74% stake in the telecom sector.

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Sun Pharma has, however, denied reports of this possible investment. Sun Pharma officials told NDTV Profit that the company will invest only in pharmaceutical business.

The Supreme Court in February had cancelled 122 licenses, including Telenor's India venture, Uninor's, after the court found the 2008 sale of spectrum was manipulated by some bidders.

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According to an Economic Times report,Telenor had reached out to Navin Jindal, the Kanoria family of Quippo Telecom and Viom, Sterlite's Anil Aggarwal for joining hands. But finally settled for the promoter family of Sun Pharma.

Earlier this month, Telenor ended its joint venture with realty major Unitech, saying it would set up a new entity through which it could bid for upcoming spectrum auction.

Shares of Sun Pharma were trading 1.3 percent lower today, while the BSE Sensex was down 1.72 percent.