DoT questions Hexacon's shareholding

The department of telecom has sought clarifications regarding the equity structure of Bharti Hexacom Ltd, with regard to the total number of shares of the company.

Hexacom is the largest cellular operator in the state of Rajasthan. The Bharti Group has a 67.5 per cent stake in the company, while Telecom Consultants of India Ltd (TCIL) holds 30 per cent.

Hexacom was recently in the news after the Bharti Group bid Rs 125 crore for TCIL's 30 per cent stake. If it succeeds, it would give Bharti over 95 per cent stake in the company. Its original promoter Shayam had bid Rs 150 crore for TCIL's stake.

Following this, Hexacom on April 4, 2006, submitted its equity structure to the DoT. The department, however, pointed out that there was inconsistency in the total number of shares being quoted by the company.

As per their records, the total number of shares in Hexacom was 177,408,000 instead of the 179,200,000 reported by the company, DoT said, adding that the company must clarify on the issue before TCIL can sell its stake in it.

At a recent press conference, Sunil Mittal, chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises, had confirmed that his company was participating in the tender for TCIL's stake and added that since Bharti already owned the majority share in the company, it would not quote an "astronomical amount" to get the additional stake.