The Delhi High Court has allowed Uninor to invite bids for selling its business and assets.
Last date extended
The court has also extended the last date for receiving expression of interest from August 6 to August 8 . However, it has asked the Company Law Board to decide the matter on merit adding that nothing will be confirmed till then.
Earlier, the CLB had stayed the proposal to auction Uninor’s assets at the behest of the Indian joint venture partner Unitech.
The High Court passed the order on Monday while hearing a plea by Uninor against the CLB order.
Reacting to the court’s order, Uninor said, “With today’s decision of the High Court of Delhi, Uninor is able to proceed with its steps towards the auction and seek expressions of interest as planned. As we have stated earlier, this auction is the only available route to ensure that Uninor’s customers, employees and business partners have a chance to continue beyond the licence cancellation date.” The CLB will hear the matter on August 8.
The CLB had stayed Uninor’s move to auction its business and assets. The stay order dampened Telenor’s efforts to transfer Uninor’s business into a new entity and bring in another Indian partner before the upcoming auction.
On Thursday, Unitech had approached the CLB against Uninor’s decision to auction its assets. Unitech, which owns about 33 per cent stake in Uninor, wants to be paid off at a higher valuation than what Telenor is willing to pay.
Maximum value
To resolve the dispute, Uninor wanted to auction its business and assets to get maximum possible returns for its investors.
Unitech, however, said the fact that Uninor, the auctioneer and the only party to have expressed interest already are all under the direct control of the same management of Telenor, only shows that this is not a free and fair process.