Hutch Bidding War: Vodafone May Place Formal Bid On Friday

The latest on the Hutch asset sale in India is that UK’s telecommunication giant Vodafone has thrown its hat to the ring. The Vodafone board is meeting today to consider a proposal to put in a bid for Hutchison Essar, whose value is anywhere between $12 billion and $15 billion. The Financial Times reports that Vodafone may table an offer in person on Friday to Canning Fok, managing director of Hutchison Whampoa, and Ravi Ruia, vice-chairman of Essar, who would be in London. Vodafone already own a 10 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, the largest GSM operator in India.
The bidding war is getting interesting with Maxis of Malaysia also showing interest in buying the Hutch stake. Business Standard reports that Maxis is finalising its bid. Another serious contender for the stake of Hutch is Reliance Communications, which has sought the help of private equity funds like KKR, Blackstone and Texas Pacific Group to make a joint bid.
Hutchison Essar is 67 per cent owned by Hutchison Telecom International and 33 per cent by Essar.
The FT report says if Vodafone is successful in acquiring Hutch Essar, then it may be forced to sell its 10 per cent stake in Bharti.

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