Spice Telecom plans Rs 600cr IPO

The board of directors of Spice Telecom has approved plans for the company to go public during March-April 2007. The Rs 1,000 crore firm, which operates mobile services in Karnataka and Punjab, is expected to raise around Rs 600 crore by offloading 15-20%.

Telecom Malaysia, which holds 49% in the company, paid around Rs 800 crore when it acquired the stake during early 2006, valuing this firm at around Rs 1,600 crore.

Spice Telecom has around 2.5 million users and has a debt of close to Rs 1,200 crore.

The company plans to use the fresh funds for starting mobile services in new circles and start national long distance and international long distance services with the backing of Telecom Malaysia.

MCorp Global, the holding company of Spice Telecom, also announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Spanco Telesystems to offer enquiry services to Indian Railways.

Bhupendra Kumar Modi, chairman, MCorp Global said in Bangalore: "We should be rolling out this service by March of this year. Nearly 40 crore Indians travel by train on an annual basis and the price point we are offering is a compelling proposition for them to get connected."

Using this as the platform, Mcorp Global plans to offer mobile phones at around Rs 1,000 for rail passengers with valid tickets.