Telenor to raise Rs 8,200 cr rights issue via Unitech Wireless

New Delhi: Telenor said on Monday its mobile phone joint venture Unitech Wireless had initiated a rights issue of Rs 82 billion ($1.65 billion) to secure long-term funding.

Norwegian telecoms company Telenor owns 67.25 percent of the joint venture, which trades under the Uninor brand name. Unitech owns the remainder.[caption id="attachment_92865" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="The Telenor logo. Reuters"][/caption]

"We hope this will be subscribed to by both owners of the company to give Unitech Wireless the funds it needs to continue its strong development in the Indian market," a Telenor spokesman said in a statement.

Although it has launched its services in only 13 circles and has a mobile subscriptions of 23 million users.

The company is the second largest foreign operator in Asia. It has operations in the Nordics, Eastern Europe and across Asia.

It has controlling stake investments in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia.

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Unitech Wireless had earlier decided to launch a rights issue, but the process was halted after Unitech obtained a court's "stay order". Telenor said this month another Indian court had cleared the way for the planned issue.

Reuters