India's Tata Teleservices falls 5% on dilution of stake over govt dues

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)

12/01/2022 05:56

** Shares of telecom service provider  TTML.NS  fall as much
as 5% to 275.65 rupees, their biggest intraday pct loss since
Oct 20
    ** Co said on Tuesday its board expressed desire for
conversion of full amount of interest related to dues to India
govt for spectrum into equity  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2TR0NA
    ** "Net present value" of this interest is expected to be
about 8.50 billion rupees  ($115.25 million)
    ** The conversion, if happens will result in dilution of all
existing shareholders of co and expect government to hold about
9.5% stake in co - TTML
    ** On Tuesday, telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd  VODA.NS 
too agreed for a conversion of interest, govt dues to equity
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2TR0RK
    ** India's telecom sector was disrupted by the entry of
billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio  RELI.NS  and forced
some rivals out of the market
    ** Telecom sector's troubles have also been compounded by
the huge dues owed to the govt
    ** About 1.7 TTML shares change hands vs 30-day avg of 3.9
mln
    **  TTML shares gained more 20x in 2021 and are up 33% so
far this year


($1 = 73.7505 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru)
 ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 8061822737); Reuters
Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))