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Idea Cellular’s Acquisition of Spice Telecom

The case discusses the antecedents before the merger between Idea Cellular Ltd and Spice Telecom. It describes the evolution, fast growth and structure of the Indian mobile telecommunications industry; provides a brief profile of the firms involved; describes the merger/deal and highlights the issues involved (especially regulatory) in completing the merger. Idea Cellular Ltd., part of the diversified Aditya V. Birla Group, had announced its intent to acquire Spice Telecom, an independent mobile services company that was operating in two circles—Punjab and Karnataka, but held licenses in multiple circles. As part of the deal, TMI (a subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia) swapped its stake in Spice Telecom to acquire stake in Idea Cellular. However, the regulator, Department of Telecommunications (DOT) raised objections on the merger citing the revised M&A guidelines that restricted a company from owning more than a 10 per cent stake in two licenses in the same circles. This case provides learners with opportunities to (a) appreciate the complementarities of the M&A intent of all the firms involved and (b) analyze the deal structure and critically evaluate the options before the two companies in addressing the DOT objections.