New Delhi, Jan 12
The bid to acquire Hutch-Essar, India's second largest mobile
telephony operator, has become fiercer with the London-based
Hindujas formally joining the fray along with Vodafone and Anil
Ambani's Reliance Communications.
"We have given our non-binding bid to Hutch which have been accepted
by them. We will present a formal bid by the end of this month," A.P.
Hinduja, executive chairman of Hinduja TMT told IANS over telephone
from Mumbai.
"The due diligence will start from Jan 24 and 25 and we will bid for
Hutch's 67 percent share," Hinduja added.
"In this type of business we are open for partnerships with anyone
but they have to be like-minded people who share the same business
values like us," he said when asked if he is ready to partner with
Reliance Communications (RCom) or Vodafone, UK-based global mobile
phone giant.
In June last year the Hindujas had exited Hutch-Essar by selling its
5.11 per cent stake for $450 million.
"That time we wanted to divest and we told Hutch about this. But
they were not ready. So we were waiting for the right opportunity.
This is a great opportunity for us to enter India's telecom market
in a big way," Hinduja told IANS.
The announcement comes a day after Reliance Communications' Anil
Ambani visited ministers and senior government officials to lobby
his company's bid to pick up stake in Hutch-Essar.
Ambani did this after he was authorised by his company's board of
directors to "take all necessary steps" for a possible takeover of
Hutch-Essar.
Vodafone's Indian-born chief executive, Arun Sarin earlier had told
reporters that he is hopeful of presenting a formal bid to Hutch-Essar
by early next month. Vodafone currently has 10 percent equity in
Hutch-Essar's competitor Bharti Televentures.
Sarin also mentioned clearly that he is ready to partner with
anyone. He has also said that he was open to partnering with the
Ruias of the Essar group who have a 33 percent stake in Hutch-Essar.
The Hong Kong-based business tycoon Li Ka-Shing's Hutchison Whampoa
has the remaining 67 percent stake.
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