Airtel's Acquisition of Tata's Consumer Mobile Businesses: A Matter of Choice or Necessity?

Airtel's Acquisition of Tata's Consumer Mobile Businesses: A Matter of Choice or Necessity?
Case Code: BSTR553
Case Length: 14 Pages
Period: 1996-2017
Pub Date: 2018
Teaching Note: Available		 Price: Rs.300
Organization: Bharti Airtel, Tata's Consumer Mobile Businesses
Industry: Telecom
Countries: India
Themes: Merger and Acquisition
Airtel's Acquisition of Tata's Consumer Mobile Businesses: A Matter of Choice or Necessity?
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts

Abstract

In 2017, the Indian telecom industry went into a consolidation phase, witnessing a number of mergers and acquisitions. This was especially the case after the entry of Reliance Jio in late 2016, which disrupted the industry with its significantly low charges. This case study discusses one of the acquisition deals where India's leading telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, acquired the Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB) of Tata Group, the leading business house in India. The debt and cash-free deal helped not only Tata Group to cut down on its losses but also Bharti Airtel to acquire 44 million customers at one stroke. Experts opined that the benefits from the acquisition would not end the challenges facing Airtel and the company had to come up with a strategy to retain customers and hold on to its leading positing in the India telecom market.

Issues

The case is structured to achieve the following teaching objectives:

  • Understand the development of the Indian telecom market
  • Examine the rationale behind Tata's CMB acquisition by Airtel
  • Identify the issues and challenges faced by Airtel due to the acquisition
  • Explore how Airtel could overcome these challenges and maintain its number one position in the Indian telecom industry

Contents

Keywords

Bharti Airtel, Merger, Tata's Consumer Mobile Businesses (CMB), Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), Tata Teleservices Maharashtra (TTML), Reliance Jio, Tariff war, Spectrum debts, Industry consolidation, Telecom Industry

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