DoCoMo, Tata open offer for Tata Tele postponed
BANGALORE, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T) and India's Tata Sons have postponed their joint open offer for up to 20 percent of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd (TTML.BO) as it is yet to be cleared by the market regulator, their offer manager said on Friday.
The offer, which was slated to open on Jan. 8, has been delayed as the firms are still waiting for a response from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Lazard India Private Ltd said in a statement to the stock exchanges.
The revised schedule for the open offer will be announced after getting the regulator's approval, it said.
Last month, NTT DoCoMo said it would pay $2.7 billion for a 26 percent stake in the unlisted Indian telecom Tata Teleservices, giving Japan's top mobile operator a foothold in the world's fastest growing major mobile market.
DoCoMo is making an open joint tender offer with Tata Sons, the holding firm of the group, to buy up to 20 percent in the listed unit of Tata Tele, as required by Indian law. The offer price has been fixed at 24.70 rupees (51 U.S. cents) a share.
Unlisted Tata Teleservices is majority owned by Tata Group, which analysts say is participating in the open offer so as not to completely dilute its holding in the telecom arm.
Shares in Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) ended down 1.2 percent at 20.45 rupees in a Mumbai market .BSESN that fell 2.5 percent. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Mark Williams)
