MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries has received a go ahead from Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire majority stakes in two of Indias largest cable operators DEN Networks and Hathway Cable Datacom.RIL informed stock exchanges that it has received approval from CCI on January 21 for acquisition.ET was first to report on October 16, 2018, that RIL was close to acquire controlling stakes two companies as it was looking at ramping up coverage of its ambitious high speed broadband network under JioGigaFiber.Later, RIL said it will acquire 66% in DEN and 51.3% in Hathway for a total consideration of Rs 5,230 crore.
In DEN, RIL is making a primary investment of Rs 2,045 crore through a preferential issue and secondary purchase of Rs 245 crore from existing promoters, while In Hathway, RIL is investing Rs 2,940 crore through a preferential issue.As per SEBI regulations, investments will also trigger open offers in DEN, Hathway, as well as Hathways subsidiary companies - GTPL Hathway where it owns 37.3% stake, and Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacomm.The acquisition will be carried out by six SPVs, 100% owned and controlled by Digital Media Distribution Trust of which Reliance Content Distribution Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL is sole beneficiary.The CCI approval will allow Ambani to connect more households with high-speed broadband at a much faster pace.
The company has an ambitious plan to connect 50 million homes across 1,100 cities, however, it was facing some resistance from local cable operators across country.The acquisition, however, will give a control of almost 27,000 LCOs to RIL.RIL had said that it will work together with Hathway and DEN and all LCOs to offer a quick and affordable upgrade to a world-class line-up of JioGigaFiber and Jio Smart-Home Solutions to 24 million existing cable connected homes of these companies across 750 cities.RIL also said it will ensure compliance with all regulatory and statutory requirements at all times and works towards systematic growth of sector.