Loop offers to limit Bharti deal to subscriber transfer

NEW DELHI: Loop Mobile has sought speedy clearance of its deal to sell some assets to Bharti Airtel, offering to limit the agreement to just a transfer of its subscribers, leaving aside its telecom equipment, in a bid to save what would have been India’s only M&A deal in the sector since 2008. In a letter to the telecom department (DoT), the mobile phone operator which operates only in Mumbai, said it was offering to change the contours of the deal for an urgent nod, as over six months have lapsed since the initial strategic pact was signed mid-February, and there wasn’t enough time for it to transfer it network equipment before its permit to operate services expires on November 29.

The initial deal, approval for which was sought on March 10, involved transfer of Loop’s 3 million subscribers and 2G network comprising over 2,500 cell sites and optic fibre through what is called a slump sale without assigning values to individual assets in the financial capital to Bharti Airtel, India’s No. 1 carrier.

"Since the company’s license and spectrum are set to expire on November 29, merely two months from now, therefore, due to the paucity of time and to facilitate an expeditious approval, we now propose to transfer/ migrate Loop’s subscribers only to Airtel excluding the telecom network equipment," Sandip Basu, managing director and chief executive of Loop Mobile (India) Ltd. said in a letter dated October 9, a copy of which was seen by ET.