INDIA > Telecom Company Tikona to Receive FDI Worth US$ 40 Million
Based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the government of India has approved telecom company Tikona Digital’s issuance of CCDs worth ₹267 crore (US$ 40 Million) increasing its foreign equity to 76.73%.
CCDs are Compulsory Convertible Debenture – a form of financial instrument issued as either preference shares or debentures and convertible into equity shares of the Indian company at a later date. The conversion can either be an option for investor, or compulsorily (without any option whatsoever). While further detail is still forthcoming, it appears to be the later.
Tikona, is an Internet service provider based out of Mumbai, India and founded in 2008. A mainstream newspaper reported that Tikona has a base of 2,750,000 customers, including 6000 small and medium business customers in the 2015.
Tikona recently received US $25 million in the form of equity from International Finance Corporation (IFC) and has been appealing to the board for further issuance of CCDs to non-resident Indians. Prior to this issuance, Tikona was owned by Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (40%), Oak India Investments (20%), Everstone (10%) and L&T Infrastructure Finance Co. Ltd (4%) .