NCLT approves merger of debt-ridden Tata Teleservices with Bharti Airtel

The National Company Law Tribunal has approved the merger of loss-making telecom firm Tata Teleservices with Bharti Airtel, according to an exchange filing on Monday.  

The merger is subject to the approval of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

"Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal, New Delhi, Principal Bench, vide its order dated January 17, 2019, has sanctioned the composite scheme of arrangement between Tata Teleservices Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited and Bharti Hexacom Limited and their respective shareholders and creditors," Bharti Airtel said in a BSE filing.

Bharti Hexacom is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.
 

Debt-ridden loss-making firm Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel announced the merger in October 2017. The deal is on a no-debt, no-cash basis, implying Airtel is not taking over any of the about Rs 40,000 crore debt of Tata Teleservices and is neither paying any cash. 

As part of the agreement, Bharti Airtel will absorb Tata consumer mobile business operations in 19 telecom circles (17 under Tata Teleservices Ltd and 2 under Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd). It will also assume a small portion of the unpaid spectrum liability of Tata towards DoT, which is to be paid on deferred basis, the statement added. 
 

The merger will bolster Bharti Airtel's spectrum pool with significant additional 178.5 MHz spectrum in 1800, 2100 and 850 MHz bands, all widely used for 4G.