Sarin to return soon, says won’t overbid

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin continued to be in the spotlight on Thursday, till he left for London late in the night after a power-packed two-day visit to India.

Amid shareholder concern of overbidding for Hutch Essar, he said, “We would go only up to a certain point, and not beyond”.

Sarin said he was open to partnering an Indian company.

He called Essar, which owns 33% in Hutch Essar, a “natural partner”.

On Reliance and Analjit Singh, Sarin said, “We are talking to several people.” He added, “We are a partnership kind of people. We are open to everything.”

One interpretations of this was that Vodafone was in talks with Reliance as well for acquiring Hutch Essar.

But, as per government rules, Reliance, which already owns a telecom operation, would have to acquire 100% of Hutch Essar, or restrict its holding to 10% in one of the two.

Sarin stressed that Vodafone was looking for a partner on a long-term basis.