Hutchison Essar, the joint venture between Hutchison International and the Essar group, will initiate the process of merging BPL's rest of Maharashtra operations with itself this week.
Ealier, the company began merging of BPL's units, after the Essar group had acquired it for around Rs 5,200 crore (Rs 52 billion).
Integrating BPL's RoM operations will help Hutch expand its presence to areas other than the Mumbai circle, such as Nashik, Jalgaon, Pune and other districts in the state.
This will also enable the company expand into Goa, which also falls under the RoM circle, according to industry sources. Despite repeated attempts, Hutch officials could not be reached for comments.
According to Cellular Operators' Association of India data, in February 2006, BPL Cellular had more than 7,08,799 subscribers, which would be added to one crore-plus subscribers of Hutch (1.76 crore in January).
The Essar group had last year acquired BPL Communications in a deal valued at nearly Rs 5,200 crore (Rs 52 billion). It is hailed as the largest consolidation move in the domestic telecommunications sector.
The amount included a Rs 2,600 crore (Rs 26 billion) debt, while the balance was to be paid to the shareholders. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, founder and chairman, BPL, held 66 per cent, while other promoters' holdings stood at around 34 per cent.
BPL Communications had been functioning in two entities - BPL Mobile Communications with operations in Mumbai and BPL Mobile Cellular, with operations in Maharashtra and Goa, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and Kerala.
The combined market share of the new entity in the Mumbai market would be over 55 per cent. It was slated to have total revenues of close to Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) with BPL coming in with Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion).Do you want to discuss stock tips? Do you know a hot one? Join the Stock Market Investments Discussion Group
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