Telenor said that its Indian mobile joint venture Unitech Wireless has initiated a rights issue of INR 82 billion to secure long-term funding, a move the Norwegian firm's Indian partner has opposed, reports Reuters. Telenor said the rights issue is aimed at securing long-term funding in the absence of loans from Indian banks. "We hope this will be subscribed to by both owners of the company to give Unitech Wireless the funds it needs to continue its development in the Indian market," a Telenor spokesman said in a statement. The spokesman said Telenor was not looking to make any changes to the ownership structure of Unitech Wireless. Telenor owns 67.25 percent of the joint venture, which trades under the Uninor brand name. Unitech owns the remainder. Both partners need to subscribe to the rights issue to keep their shareholding unchanged. Unitech Wireless had earlier decided to launch the rights issue, but the process was halted after Unitech obtained a court's stay order. Telenor said this month another Indian court had cleared the way for the planned issue. Unitech declined to comment. The company has previously said 'certain actions' of Telenor were not in the best interests of the shareholders. A source with knowledge of developments said Unitech's representatives on the joint venture's board had raised objections on the proposed pricing of the rights issue.
