Saudi Telecom enters India through Maxis stake buy

Saudi Telecom Co, Saudi Arabia's state-run operator, has entered the Indian market by buying 25 per cent equity in Malaysia's Maxis that owns a controlling stake in Chennai-based mobile operator Aircel.

STC, the largest telecom company in the Middle East, said in a statement it has acquired 25 per cent in Maxis Communication for three billion dollars. Maxis, which is owned by T Ananda Krishnan, controls 74 per cent in Aircel. The balance 26 per cent in Aircel is held by the Reddy family of Apollo Hospitals group.

As Saudi Telecom now owns a quarter of Maxis, it would also hold an equivalent stake in Maxis' India operations.

Officials of Aircel or Maxis were not immediately available for comments on the development. When contacted, Apollo Hospitals Group finance director Sunita Reddy said: "We are not in a position to comment at present."

Aircel will have to seek Foreign Investment Promotion Board's approval for this change in shareholding. The deal is similar to that of Egyptian telecom operator Orascom's acquisition of 19 per cent stake in Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International two years ago, which gave it an indirect 10 per cent stake in Hutch Essar - the then Indian business of HTIL.

STC said in the statement it has entered the telecom markets of India, Malaysia and Indonesia with the 3.05 billion dollar investment. The statement quoted STC chairman Muhammad Bin Suliman Al-Jasser as saying: "We will expand our footprint to over 1.4 billion people in these countries."

Aircel right now has eight circles and has applied for pan-India licence from the government depending on the availability of spectrum.