Aircel in talks to acquire Loop Mobile?

India’s Economic Times is reporting that Aircel Cellular, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Maxis Communications, is in negotiations to purchase Mumbai-based Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile). According to the report talks between the two operators have been ongoing for several months, although both parties have denied the claims. It is believed that the two companies have yet to agree on a value for Loop Mobile, which according to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database had a subscriber base of just under two million at end-December 2008. Any sale, however, still faces a block due to a Bombay High Court injunction that stops the sale of shares in Loop pending resolution of its ownership dispute with Vodafone Essar; in January 2009 Loop applied to the court for the restriction to be lifted but no further developments have been reported.