Essar in talks for stake in Dhabi's Africa assets

The Ruias-promoted Essar Group said on Sunday that it has entered into exclusive discussions with the Dhabi Group of UAE to buy out a majority stake in its telecom business in Africa.

“The Dhabi and Essar Groups have agreed to enter into exclusive discussions in relation to an investment by Essar Group into the telecommunication portfolio of Dhabi Group’s African assets,” Essar said in a statement.

The Dhabi group offers telecom services in African countries under the brand name Warid Telecom. The company has recently acquired telecom licences for two more markets — Uganda and Congo.

The transaction will involve an equity infusion into these businesses as growth capital and will be the basis of a partnership to create a significant presence in Africa.

The Dhabi group has engaged Standard Chartered Bank to act as an exclusive financial advisor for the deal.

Essar has significant interests in telecommunications services, spanning mobile telephony, telecom tower infrastructure, telecom retail and IT/telecom enabled services.

It holds a 33% interest in Vodafone Essar, which is a joint venture with the Vodafone Group, and is one of India’s largest cellular service providers, with over 75 million subscribers.