New Delhi: The Company Law Board on Thursday stayed the auction of assets by telecom firm Uninor.
Real estate company Unitech, a minority holder in the telco, had moved the CLB last week against the auction of assets.
Uninor is a joint venture between Unitech and Norwegian firm Telenor, which owns 67.25 per cent in the telco.
The CLB said the decision was final and would not be reviewed by it.
Last Friday, the CLB had stayed the auction till August 8.
In a statement last week, Uninor had said that that "in view of the impending Supreme Court mandated cancellation of license on September 7, 2012, Uninor management has decided to conduct an auction of Uninor’s business, including its assets, while the company is still a going concern".
A spokesman for Unitech had then responded that the company would take legal action against the proposed auction.
Uninor plans to transfer all assets and debt into a new company, according to a public auction announcement by the company. This includes the employees, tower infrastructure and customers. It does not include licence or spectrum.
Uninor has valued its assets at Rs 4,000 crore, according to sources.
The company lost all 22 licences it owned following the Supreme Court order issued in February 2012.
The winner of the auction will also have to take all the debt of company on its books.
Unitech has opposed such an auction of assets as it claims that the auction cannot be executed since the two partners are locked in an arbitration process over the company’s rights issue.
Telenor has already expressed an interest to participate in the auction.
"We already have an interest from the Telenor group willing to procure Uninor’s business. Telenor Asia, majority shareholder of the company, has indicated its willingness to participate through an Indian affiliate entity in the auction of the business of the company," the Uninor statement said.
If there are no other bidders, Unitech gets an exit at an auction-determined price. Telenor gets all assets and participates in the upcoming spectrum auction with a new Indian partner.
If someone else bids higher, then both Telenor and Unitech will exit.
Real estate company Unitech, a minority holder in the telco, had moved the CLB last week against the auction of assets.
Uninor is a joint venture between Unitech and Norwegian firm Telenor, which owns 67.25 per cent in the telco.
The CLB said the decision was final and would not be reviewed by it.
Last Friday, the CLB had stayed the auction till August 8.
In a statement last week, Uninor had said that that "in view of the impending Supreme Court mandated cancellation of license on September 7, 2012, Uninor management has decided to conduct an auction of Uninor’s business, including its assets, while the company is still a going concern".
A spokesman for Unitech had then responded that the company would take legal action against the proposed auction.
Uninor plans to transfer all assets and debt into a new company, according to a public auction announcement by the company. This includes the employees, tower infrastructure and customers. It does not include licence or spectrum.
Uninor has valued its assets at Rs 4,000 crore, according to sources.
The company lost all 22 licences it owned following the Supreme Court order issued in February 2012.
The winner of the auction will also have to take all the debt of company on its books.
Unitech has opposed such an auction of assets as it claims that the auction cannot be executed since the two partners are locked in an arbitration process over the company’s rights issue.
Telenor has already expressed an interest to participate in the auction.
"We already have an interest from the Telenor group willing to procure Uninor’s business. Telenor Asia, majority shareholder of the company, has indicated its willingness to participate through an Indian affiliate entity in the auction of the business of the company," the Uninor statement said.
If there are no other bidders, Unitech gets an exit at an auction-determined price. Telenor gets all assets and participates in the upcoming spectrum auction with a new Indian partner.
If someone else bids higher, then both Telenor and Unitech will exit.
