KATHMANDU: Smart Telecom’s dispute on share ownership has ended with an agreement to bring a strategic partner. The company which bagged unified licence last year is undergoing homework to sale a certain percent of share to an international partner and expand service nationwide.
Even as the groups having share in the company said that ownership row is over, the company is yet to complete legal formalities. “There is no dispute in the company now and we have also reached an internal agreement to bring a strategic partner within six months,” said Dipak Timalsina, who represents River Road International, a investor of Smart Telecom.
The partnership plan is in first priority and the percentage of share to be sold will be decided later after preparation of due diligence audit report (DDA), according to Timalsina. He however, did not disclose the change in Smart Telecom’s share structure made to solve the dispute citing that the issue was internal matter.
Corporate Communications Heard of Smart Telecom Pawan Shakya has also said that the row regarding the share ownership was solved and legal formalities and documentation part were yet to be completed. He added that as market was competitive, they were doing internal homework to join hand with an strategic partner having good experience in telecom sector.
Amid growing competition in small market, Smart Telecom is second operator after Nepal Telecom (NT) which has come up with strategic partnership plan. With Ncell already making good presence in market and NT too planning in big in a new way, strategic partnership was a best option to pour in huge investment in network expansion for making service available across the country, according to Smart Telecom.
In April last year, Smart Telecom had acquired unified licence which allows operation of multiple telecom services including nationwide mobile service under single permit. It had embroiled in the ownership dispute also affecting in expansion plan after River Road in November last year announcing of buying 54 per cent share of the company also appointing Timalsina as new Chairman.
Following which, Sachin Lal Acharya representing Lal Sahu Distribution the main investor of the company had accused River Road of making changes in the ownership using forged signature and documents. Complaints had also been filed in the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Company Registrar and Patan District Court.
Sources said that Acharya and Timalsina groups had reached in a conclusion to establish a separate company with equal stake, sell it certain per cent of Smart Telecom’s share and also bring a strategic partner. As per the current share ownership record at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), Smart Telecom has 80 percent investment from Singapore based Lal Sahu Distribution and 20 per cent from local firm—Square Network.
The NTA officials said that they had not receive any information regarding change in share structure of Smart Telecom of late. Based on the agreement, Smart Telecom has also approached to the Department of Industry for completing legal formalities on changes in the shares and share purchase agreement. However, the department is yet to complete the process as it currently has no documents related to the company with the CIAA seizing them.
“There is no use of their application until we have all other documents,” said Director General Dhruba Lal Rajbansi of the department. He added that they were yet to get the documents from CIAA. For the ownership dispute intensifying and Acharya filing complaint, the anti-graft body had took in control the documents for investigation.
Even as the groups having share in the company said that ownership row is over, the company is yet to complete legal formalities. “There is no dispute in the company now and we have also reached an internal agreement to bring a strategic partner within six months,” said Dipak Timalsina, who represents River Road International, a investor of Smart Telecom.
The partnership plan is in first priority and the percentage of share to be sold will be decided later after preparation of due diligence audit report (DDA), according to Timalsina. He however, did not disclose the change in Smart Telecom’s share structure made to solve the dispute citing that the issue was internal matter.
Corporate Communications Heard of Smart Telecom Pawan Shakya has also said that the row regarding the share ownership was solved and legal formalities and documentation part were yet to be completed. He added that as market was competitive, they were doing internal homework to join hand with an strategic partner having good experience in telecom sector.
Amid growing competition in small market, Smart Telecom is second operator after Nepal Telecom (NT) which has come up with strategic partnership plan. With Ncell already making good presence in market and NT too planning in big in a new way, strategic partnership was a best option to pour in huge investment in network expansion for making service available across the country, according to Smart Telecom.
In April last year, Smart Telecom had acquired unified licence which allows operation of multiple telecom services including nationwide mobile service under single permit. It had embroiled in the ownership dispute also affecting in expansion plan after River Road in November last year announcing of buying 54 per cent share of the company also appointing Timalsina as new Chairman.
Following which, Sachin Lal Acharya representing Lal Sahu Distribution the main investor of the company had accused River Road of making changes in the ownership using forged signature and documents. Complaints had also been filed in the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Company Registrar and Patan District Court.
Sources said that Acharya and Timalsina groups had reached in a conclusion to establish a separate company with equal stake, sell it certain per cent of Smart Telecom’s share and also bring a strategic partner. As per the current share ownership record at the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), Smart Telecom has 80 percent investment from Singapore based Lal Sahu Distribution and 20 per cent from local firm—Square Network.
The NTA officials said that they had not receive any information regarding change in share structure of Smart Telecom of late. Based on the agreement, Smart Telecom has also approached to the Department of Industry for completing legal formalities on changes in the shares and share purchase agreement. However, the department is yet to complete the process as it currently has no documents related to the company with the CIAA seizing them.
“There is no use of their application until we have all other documents,” said Director General Dhruba Lal Rajbansi of the department. He added that they were yet to get the documents from CIAA. For the ownership dispute intensifying and Acharya filing complaint, the anti-graft body had took in control the documents for investigation.
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