Saudi Telecom has no direct holding in Chennai-based telecom firm Aircel or its majority stakeholder Maxis Communications Berhad, an investigation into allegations of Saudi stake in the firm posing a security threat has concluded.
The investigation, launched following allegations by Subramanian Swamy, have concluded that Saudi Telecom holds a 25 per cent stake in Maxis Berhad and not in Maxis Communications Berhad, sources privy to the development said.
Maxix Berhad is a unit of Maxis Communications Berhad, which owns a 74 per cent stake in Aircel.
"Enquiries have revealed that insofar as shareholding pattern of Maxis Berhad is concerned, annual report of the company for the year 2012-13 indicated that Saudi Telecom holds 25 per cent of its total shares," sources said.
It added that "Maxis Communications Berhad, which owns 64 per cent shareholding in Maxis Berhad, has 74 per cent ownership in Aircel."
Swamy had called for a review of the Aircel-Maxis deal alleging a security threat due to Saudi Telecom raising a significant stake in Maxis Communications - the majority shareholder in Aircel.
Citing a joint intelligence committee report on Saudi Telecom raising its stake in Malaysian firm Maxis, Swamy in a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation written last July called for probing the role of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, under whose regime the deal was cleared.
He had in the letter stated that Saudi Telecom plans to raise its stake to 35 per cent in Maxis and a French company has plans to buy a 20 per cent stake in it.
