Sistema to buy Aircel for $3 billion: Report

 

Sistema is reported to be in talks with Aircel’s majority stake holders Maxis Communications to acquire a controlling stake in Aircel for $3 billion. Malaysia-based Maxis Communications holds 74 percent stake in Aircel.The Times of India is reporting that Russia’s Sistema will buy into Maxis Communications with rights to have the Indian armed transferred to it. Sistema already runs a CDMA network in India under its MTS brand and has Shyam Telecom as its Indian partner.

MTS is one of the carriers to have found itself embroiled in the 2G license allocation scam after the Supreme Court revoked all licenses granted during A Raja’s tenure as the telecom minister. Aircel has close to 65 million subscribers while MTS has slightly over 16 million subscribers.