Couple of days back, news was that Reliance Communications was interested in Hutch-Essar. Being a Gold Member of Hutch (erstwhile Orange in Mumbai) since 2000, I was not really happy to hear the news and wish that Reliance Communications do not take it up on their stride.
Now, the news is of Vodafone’s interest and their talks for acquiring Hutchison Telecom’s stake in Hutch-Essar which is a much better news than the Reliance-Hutch one. It is also a good news to know that initial talks with Vodafone and equity funds led by TPG have advanced, while the discussion with others are still preliminary in nature. The Indian media is also abuzz with reports and speculation that Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL) has received 5 bids - from Reliance Communications, Vodafone, Malaysia’s Maxis, Egypt’s Orascom and even Essar that holds 33% stake in the venture. HTIL has mandated Goldman Sachs for the sale of its stake in the India venture, whose enterprise value is being estimated about $18 billion.
In this mêlée, the Indian counterpart, Reliance would have to wait for a decision by Ruias on whethere or not Essar would exit the venture. However, this would not be the case for Vodafone and can go ahead with its decisions on HTIL after having made its position public. In case Essar decided to stay put, then Reliance may not be able to go ahead with the venture due to regulatory norms in India.
It was reported by Financial Times that Reliance was in talks with at least four equity funds - Apax Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR - for combining forces to make an offer for Hutch-Essar. With Hutch-Essar’s estimated enterprise value of $14 billion, Reliance’s talks with these funds emphasis the likeluhood of a bidding war.
Comments 4
I am not agree with you.
Posted 02 Feb 2007 at 10:25 pm ¶I think reliance is a better company than vodafone to acquire hutch.
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Well, don’t worry Vodafone Won.
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Posted 13 May 2007 at 11:06 am ¶Post a Comment