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Abu Dhabi: etisalat said on Tuesday it could spend up to $4 billion on an acquisition or a licence to enter India, the world's second-largest mobile phone market.
Mohammad Omran, chairman of the Arab world's second biggest telecoms firm, said the time was ripe for a purchase.
"The market value for shares [in India] has gone down a little so it's a good time for us to consider entry," he said.
"We could spend in the range of $1 billion to $3 to $4 billion dollars; that depends on the opportunities and on how much of a per cent we buy," Omran said.
The price depends on whether state-controlled etisalat invests in a piece of an existing operator or in a new licence, Omran said.
etisalat said earlier in April it was in talks with several Indian telecoms companies, including Spice Communications .
"Our aim is to buy into an operator that covers most of India, and Spice is one possibility," he said.
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