The Hindu Business Line : Tatas move to buy Birla stake in Idea Cellular

The Tata Group have served a termination notice to the Aditya Birla Group for breach of shareholders agreement and have initiated moves to buy out Birla's stake in Idea Cellular.

The spat between the two corporate houses over Idea Cellular took a new turn with the Tatas shooting off a notice to Grasim Industries Ltd, the AV Birla Group's flagship company, which said, "The AV Birla are a defaulting founder and we shall proceed to purchase the shareholding of AV Birla group within 90 days of this notice at the default price. We hereby put you to notice that by disclosing the financial data of Idea Cellular (ICL) to Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd's investors, ABNL has caused a material breach of the ICL Share Holder's Agreement (SHA)."

Tatas said that being one of the founders of Idea Cellular, the Aditya Birla Group was bound by the terms of the agreement and was not permitted to use or disclose confidential information pertaining to Idea Cellular other than as permitted by the SHA.

In the notice, Tatas said information has been shared at the investors meet presentation on September 12, 2005, by the Birla Group, and, thus, was a breach of the SHA.

The AV Birla Group, meanwhile, told the Government on Wednesday that there was no substance in the termination notice served by Tatas and it was an attempt to divert the attention from real issues.

Earlier, the Birlas had asked the DoT to direct Tatas to exit from Idea as it had allegedly flouted licence conditions.

They also sought a probe into Tatas acquisition of shares in Idea Cellular through a Mauritius-based company without taking permission from DoT.

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