BhartiAirtel could soon get a head start in the upcoming battle for wireless data services in India. On Thursday the company announced it would acquire a 49% stake in Qualcomm India’s broadband companies. Under the deal, Airtel will buy a 26% stake currently owned by two Indian firms. The remaining 23% will come from fresh equity. All in all, the deal will be worth about $165 million. And Airtel is slated to take on the existing debt of $1-1.2 billion only after 2014. BhartiAirtel’s acquisition will allow it to offer broadband services in major telecom circles like Delhi and Karnataka.
And in other news, India’s currency finally made gains on Thursday after four continuous days of losses. The rebound came after RBI governor D.Subba-rao said he did not rule out selling dollars directly to oil companies. That’s significant because oil importers account for a large chunk of dollar demand. The rupee rose 0.63% to end at 55.65 to the US dollar.
And finally, with the rupee making a rebound, Indian markets also shot up, making their biggest single-day gains in almost two months. The Sensex jumped up 274 points to 16,222. And the Nifty climbed 86 to 4,921.
