Reliance Communications-Aircel deal gets CCI nod

Reliance Communications today said it has received approval of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the demerger of its wireless division into Aircel Ltd and Dishnet Wireless Ltd.

"Reliance Communications Ltd has received an approval of
the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for the proposed
Scheme of Arrangement for demerger of the Wireless division of
the company into Aircel Ltd and Dishnet Wireless Ltd," the
company said in a regulatory filing.

Reliance Communications and Aircel in September last year
announced the merger of their wireless operations to create a
combined entity with assets worth Rs 65,000 crore.

"Post closing, the company and the present shareholders
of Aircel Ltd will hold 50 per cent each in Aircel Ltd,"
Reliance Communication said.

The company has already received approval from the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), stock exchanges
BSE and NSE for the deal and has filed an application with the
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the same.

The transaction will reduce RCom's debt by Rs 20,000
crore (USD 3 billion), while Aircel's debt would go down by Rs
4,000 crore (USD 600 million) on closing in 2017, the two
companies had said last year.

Shares of Reliance Communications were trading 0.78 down
at Rs 37.95 on BSE.