Vodafone gives final submission in Indian $2 billion tax demand
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The final part of the submission expressing why Vodafone should not be held liable for a US$2 billion tax demand following its takeover of India’s Hutchison Essar in 2007 has been submitted by the company. A demand had been asked by the Indian government on the US$11.2 billion deal.
It was being argued that under Indian law, it is the buyer who pays transaction taxes, not the seller and that the jurisdiction that the transaction took place is irrelevant when relating to assets largely held in India.
Reply with 23 annexure had been given by Vodafone on January 29, 2010. The final reply was made on March 12, 2010 with a 24th annexure. According to a company’s spokesperson, Vodafone is confident that no tax is payable on this transaction and all of the taxation and legal advice the company has received remains consistent with this view.
The entire share capital of CGP Investments (Holdings) Ltd, a Cayman Islands based company from Hutchison International (HTIL) was acquired by Vodafone International Holdings BV, a company registered in the Netherlands. CGP, itself, owns 52 per cent stakes in Hutchison India.
Asia-Cell threatened with closure
Telegeography writes…Asia-Cell, the Iraqi mobile operator part-owned by Kuwait’s Wataniya Telecom (NMTC), is under threat of having its network shut down by a court, according to a statement from Wataniya’s majority owner, Qatar Telecom, yesterday. Referring to the cellco’s incorporated headquarters in the Cayman Islands, Qtel said in a statement given to the Doha stock exchange: ‘A petition to liquidate Asia-Cell Cayman…had recently been filed in the Cayman Island courts by Asia-Cell Cayman’s majority shareholder.’ The statement gave no reason for the petition. Qtel spokesman Adel al-Mutawa played down the potential impact on its business, saying that ‘Asia-Cell will not contribute a material part of the business. You should anticipate healthy double-digit growth in both Q1 and for the full-year.’ Asked by reporters if Qtel would consider buying a majority stake in Asia-Cell, he replied that ‘Qtel is reviewing its options,’ whilst a spokeswoman for Wataniya International declined to comment on the matter. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Asia-Cell is 51%-owned by Iraqi-Kurdish company Asia-Cell Telecommunications, with National Mobile Telecommunications Company (operating as Wataniya Telecom) holding a 40% stake, and the remaining 9% owned by Bahrain-based United Gulf Bank. Asia-Cell owns Iraq’s ‘northern’ mobile licence, covering a region extending from Dahuk on the Turkish border down to Diyala, just north of Baghdad. It had 2,544,891 GSM subscribers at the end of December 2006, all pre-paid, giving it a 26% share of the market.
