Are MTN officials in Mumbai for due diligence?

RIL sources said they will challenge ADAG to go public with a copy of the agreement. The agreement was the basis for the demerger. The agreement was not unilaterally signed but has signatures of both parties.

PTI reported over the weekend that MTN's top officials are in Mumbai to conduct due diligence on R-Comm. There is no independent conformation on this piece of information.

Interestingly, both R-Comm and MTN sources deny that the latter's officials are currently in India. However, another source said four top MTN officials are in India. They include CFO Robert Nisbet, the M&A Head, Business Development Head, and some legal officials as well. They could be meeting RIL officials, though there is no conformation on this piece of news.

Earlier, on Friday, Reliance Industries wrote to the MTN board saying that it has right of first refusal over a sale of controlling stake in Reliance Communications. In effect, this would make any sale of controlling stake in the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications to anyone but Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries illegal.

Any majority stake sale should be informed to all settlement parties, RIL said. When contacted, RIL spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Reliance Communications said that RIL's right of first refusal claim is legally and factually untenable, baseless, and misconceived. "RIL's claim is based on a unilateral agreement signed by its officials in 2006, which was pronounced unfair and unjust by the Bombay High Court in October 2006. Its action is anti-consumer, anti-investor, and anti-globalisation. It has made a malafide attempt to disrupt Reliance Communications, MTN talks."

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