Norway's Telenor Group and Unitech have taken their dispute over Uninor to the Company Law Board. The companies have separately filed petitions with the CLB seeking protection of their respective investments in the telecom venture.
While Telenor said it has moved the CLB to prevent any obstruction in securing its investments, Unitech has filed a petition to prevent Telenor from assuming full control over the business and Uninor assets.
Telenor had announced plans to scrap its partnership with Unitech on account of fraud and misrepresentation. “On Friday, we have moved the Company Law Board to prevent any wrongful obstruction of our effort to secure our investments and the welfare of Uninor's four crore customers, employees and partners,” the Norwegian major said in a statement.
Unitech said it is equally sensitive to interests of customers, employees, and other stakeholders of Uninor but will resist any unilateral action by Telenor. “Consequently, Unitech has filed a fresh petition in CLB today to enforce its rights under the Articles of Uninor and to prevent Telenor from assuming full control over the business, including assets of Uninor,” the real estate major said.
Unitech alleged that Telenor was trying to rescind the shareholders' agreement and annul the Articles of Uninor only to get out of certain protective provisions for the minority shareholders including the non-compete provision.
tkt@thehindu.co.in