Sterling Takes 9% In Bharti Telecom

The Chennai-based SHRL had earlier picked up 1.5 per cent equity in Bharti Telecom which had been transferred to them. SHRL is now contemplating legal action against the Mittals if the remaining 7.5 per cent shares are not registered in its name.

SHRL director A Subramanian told Business Standard: "Yes, we picked up 1.5 per cent earlier and another 7.5 per cent from the market which Bharti has refused to register in our name. We are contemplating action aginst them."

He added that the company has already informed the Mumbai and Delhi stock exchanges that they have bought more than 5 per cent of Bharti Telecom's equity from the market as per Sebi guidelines.

 

Bharti Telecom executives said the company had rejected the application to register the shares bought by the Sterling group at a board meeting in September. "He (Sivasankaran) is a competitor and the board didn't find his intentions above board," one executive said. Sivasankaran earlier held the Delhi cellular licence through Sterling Cellular, a company which he sold off to the Essar group.

Sterling sources, however, said it has no intention of making a takeover bid. Nor does it have any intention of asking for a position on the board of directors of Bharti Telecom. "For us it is a mere investment. We believe and trust in the Mittals for running the company well," Subramanian said.

SHRL is learnt to have picked the nine per cent stake over the last one year. On a paid-up capital of Rs 15.48 crore, it amounts to about 14.2 lakh shares. The aquisition amounts to one-third of the company's shares in the market. The Mittals own 61 per cent in the company, with "friends and associates" holding 5-6 per cent. Financial institutions and foreign institutional investors own 14-15 per cent. The remaining 18-19 per cent stock is publicly held.

The Mittals control their stake in Bharti Cellular, the Delhi cellular licencee, through Bharti Televentures, a 100-per cent subsidiary of Bharti Telecom. Bharti Televentures holds 51 per cent in Bharti Cellular.

Through Sterling Computers, Sivasankaran won the licence to run cellular services in Delhi and later in Uttar Pradesh (East), Haryana and Rajasthan. However, he sold the companies to the Essar group. The Ruias later brought in Swiss Telecom as a foreign partner and are now locked in a major battle with the Mittals for a share in the capital's cellular service business.