Telekom Malaysia acquires 49% stake in Spice

Chandigarh, June 8 (UNI) Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today completed the acquisition of 49 per cent stake in Spice Communications Pvt Ltd (Spice) for 178,85 million dollars.

The remaining 51 per cent equity would remain with Mcrop Global Ltd and its associates, the existing share holders of Spice.

''I am confident our strategic partnership with TM will create a new synergy and help us in maximising growth in one of the world's fastest growing markets'', Mcrop Global Chief Exceutive Dilip Modi said.

''Spice customers today join TM's global subscriber base of over 20 million. Apart from TM's operational and management experience both in Malaysia and key Asian regional markets, the cutomers stand to benefit through the creation and innovation of new products and services,'' Mr Modi further added.

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato Abdul Wahid Omar, who was also present during the exchange of completion documents said the statistics indicate that India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets and is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of the size.

The mobile subscribers base has increased from 6.5 million in 2002 to around 80 million in January 2006, Mr Omar added.

Spice is a privately held company, providing celluar telecom services in Punjab and Karnataka. The company commenced operations in 1997.

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