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| Edited By: Nivedita Mookerji |Source: |Updated: Mar 16, 2018, 03:15 AM IST
NEW DELHI: The presence of Datacom CEO Rajkumar Dhoot (brother of Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot) at an event where Mahendra Nahata, the promoter of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL) was announcing an IPTV project along with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) on Wednesday, triggered talk of a possible resolution of issues between the two partners.
While Nahata indicated that a resolution over Datacom valuation was on the way, Dhoot refused to comment on the matter. Dhoot only said that he would be in a position to talk on the issue in January.
At one point, the Dhoots were keen to buy out Nahata’s stake in Datacom for Rs 1,360 crore. Shunning that offer, Nahata had sent a counter-proposal to buy out Dhoots’ stake in the company, but with several conditions.
On Wednesday, Mahendra Nahata, who’s also the chairman of Smart Digivision Pvt Ltd (SDPL), was on the podium at the press conference, and Dhoot was among the audience.
BSNL, in collaboration with SDPL, launched its internet protocol television (IPTV) service at a press conference on Wednesday. BSNL plans to offer IPTV across 93 cities in the country by the end of this financial year.
Datacom, a joint venture between the Dhoots (64%) and Nahata (36%), was among the companies which got pan-India telecom licences early 2008. Even as Datacom was supposed to launch its service on August 15, 2008, a clash between the shareholders delayed the launch. The dispute between the Datacom partners also made international investors stay away, despite talks with many.
When Datacom Solutions had got the pan India licences from the Department of Telecom early 2008, it was owned by Nahata with a clutch of other investors.
Dhoots of the Videocon group, on the other hand were keen to get into the telecom space but their application reached DoT after the cut-off date. It was then that Dhoots picked up 64% in Datacom.
Subsequently, a major dispute broke out between the partners over some aspects of the JV agreement, investments being made by them, and the valuation of Datacom for a possible sale to strategic investors.
