Birlas buy out Tatas in Idea

Aditya Birla group on Tuesday announced it had concluded acquisition of Tata group's 49 per cent stake in Idea Cellular Ltd for Rs 4,406 crore (Rs 44.06 billion), putting an end to the high-profile corporate battle between India's top two business houses.

Birlas, earlier today, acquired the entire 48.14 per cent of Tata's holding in Idea, the fifth largest cellular operator in the country, for a total consideration of Rs 4,406 crore, a company statement said.

With this, the combined holding of Aditya Birla Group companies in Idea stands at 98.3 per cent, which includes Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd with 35.7 per cent, Birla TMT Holdings 44.9 per cent, Grasim Industries Ltd 7.6 per cent and Hindalco Industries Ltd 10.1 per cent.

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

Market analysts say the Tata-Birla deal puts the value of Idea at an estimated Rs 9,200 crore (Rs 92 billion).