Bharti acquires Max's VSAT biz for Rs 33 cr

NEW DELHI: Bharti Infotel, a 100 percent subsidiary of Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, has announced that it has reached an agreement with the Max Group to acquire its 100 percent equity stake in C Max Infocom and its wholly owned subsidiary Comsat max, provider of VSAT and broadband services in India.






The all cash acquisition is valued at Rs 33 crore and includes a buyout of Comsat Max's VSAT Hubs in Mumbai and Delhi, along with 4,300 installations and a data center. The acquisition would result in both companies coming under the Bharti fold. The two acquired companies recorded revenues of over Rs 50 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2004.





According to the press release, the acquisition is all set to provide a strategic fit to Bharti's existing VSAT and broadband infrastructure and also to its enterprise solutions business. Comsat Max has a strong presence in the financial and banking sector, which would add to Bharti's list of corporate customers. The acquisition will result in benefits arising due to optimization of international and national bandwidth and lease line charges. The deal also entails absorbing 130 well-trained telecom professionals from Comsat Max.





According to president of Bharti Infotel Badri Agarwal, "The acquisition will make Bharti amongst the largest players in the VSAT service industry and would result in huge synergistic benefits arising due to integration of the two organizations. With a new data center and hubs in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore being connected with over 8,500 VSAT locations in the country, this would provide Bharti with the necessary scale and presence to offer integrated telecom business solutions to corporate."