Spice Telecom to float IPO by Nov

B K Modi-promoted Spice Telecom is looking at the possibilities of offloading 20 per cent stake through an initial public offering in November to raise $200-250 million.

BK Modi, chairman, MCorp, the entity that owns 51 per cent stake in Spice Telecom, said, "We are looking at the possibilities of a listing in November and ground preparations, like appointment of merchant bankers, are on. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have valued the company at $1 billion. We are considering offloading 20 per cent to raise $200-250 million."

Spice Telecom, mobile service provider in Karnataka and Punjab, offloaded 49 per cent to Telekom Malaysia in early March. Telekom Malaysia picked up the 49 per cent stake held by Ashmore Investments and Deutsche Bank in Spice Telecom for around $180 million.

Though the deal gave Telekom Malaysia an opportunity to enter India, the company did not succeed in acquiring a stake in Idea Cellular because of regulatory issues.

Spice has around 2 million subscribers. In addition to Karnataka and Punjab, it is also bidding for licences in Jammu and Kashmir, UP East and West, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Reliance Communications Ventures, Bharti Airtel and MTNL are listed players in the telecom sector.

In Kuala Lumpur, Telekom Malaysia CEO Abdul Wahid Omar today said the company was exploring possibilities to take Spice Telecom for listing in line with its global strategy.