Virgin to exit India marketing JV with Tata Tele

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group will exit a marketing joint venture in India with Tata Teleservices , with the latter agreeing to buy out the 50 per cent stake that Virgin holds for a undisclosed sum, the Hindu Businessline reported on Thursday.

While Virgin will exit the marketing joint venture with India's fifth largest mobile carrier, its branding agreement with Tata will continue, the paper said citing unnamed sources.

The move would mean Tata will have to continue paying royalty fees to Virgin for three years for using the Virgin brand name, the report said.

The latest move is a part of Tata Teleservices broader plan to integrate all its telecom-specific businesses into one, the report said citing the sources.

A Tata Tele spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while Virgin India could not be reached.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo owns 26 per cent of Tata Teleservices, and is investing about 8 billion rupees in its rights issue. Tata Tele also has a listed unit Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd