Aditya Birla group acquires Tata group's entire stake in Idea

Aditya Birla group (AV Birla group) yesterday declared it had concluded acquisition of Tata group's nearly 49% stake in Idea Cellular Ltd. for Rs 44.06 billion, putting an end to the high-profile corporate battle between the chief stakeholders in the telecom company, the Aditya Birla Group and the Tata Group.

One of India's top business houses, AV Birla group have acquired the entire 48.14% stake held by the Tata Group in the 5th largest cellular operator in the country for a total consideration of Rs 44.06 bn, as per the company statement.

After the acquisition, the combined holding of the Aditya Birla Group companies in Idea now stands at 98.3%, of which Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd holds 35.7%, Birla TMT Holdings Ltd 44.9%, Grasim Industries Ltd 7.6% and Hindalco Industries Ltd has 10.1%.

"The Idea name has come to stand for value and innovation in the eyes of its millions of subscribers," Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of AV Birla group, said in a statement. "We shall raise the bar and aim that Idea represents the very best across all product and service categories," he added.

Earlier, in April, the Birlas had decided to take over Tata's stake in Idea Cellular after Malaysian company Maxis proposed to buy them. As the Birlas had the first right of rejection, they bought out the stake and had also said they would be placing 33% of the acquired stake with financial investors.

However, market analysts say the recent Tata-Birla deal puts the value of Idea at an estimated Rs 92 bn.