The board members of Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, which has put its entire 67% in Hutch Essar on the block, are expected to meet on Sunday to evaluate the bids.
Vodafone, Reliance, Hindujas-Qatar Tele and Essar bid; Russian Altimo may be joker in the pack
NEW DELHI: The board members of Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL), which has put its entire 67% in Hutch Essar on the block, are expected to meet on Sunday to evaluate the bids.
Vodafone Group Plc, Reliance Communications Ltd, a planned alliance between Qatar Telecom and Hinduja Group have submitted bids for the stake.
Russia’s Altimo was supposed to follow suit before the deadline ended at midnight Hong Kong time (9.30 pm India) on Friday.
The Essar Group, which has the first right of refusal, is also said to have made a bid.
Li Ka-shing, the owner of HTIL, is targeting February 18, the Chinese new year day, for sealing the deal, sources said.
The stake to control Hutch Essar, which has 16% share of the world’s fastest-growing telecom market is valued around $20 billion.
The HTIL board meeting would be followed by an annual general meeting on February 15 at Hutchison’s Hong Kong headquarters.
But in reality, that target may be tough to meet, it is felt.
The HTIL management will call one or more bidders to negotiate the offer price. Another round of bidding, with higher offer prices, would follow, before a winner is announced, a source said.
Earlier, HTIL had indicated that nothing less than $14 billion would be acceptable - translating into a Hutch Essar enterprise value of $22 billion.
While UK’s Vodafone appears to be the frontrunner in the race for Hutch Essar (the 33% stakeholder in Hutch Essar), too, “is in a good situation” to buy, sources said.
Russian contender Altimo may have tied up funding from Nomura Securities of Japan, and is being advised by UK’s Rothschild & Co.
Sources said Altimo may have entered into an understanding with Egypt’s Orascom Telecom to bid for Hutch. Orascom CEO Naguib Sawiris could not be reached for comment.
The Egyptian company holds over 19% in HTIL, and indirectly has about 10% in Hutch Essar. Goldman Sachs Group Inc is running the sale for Hutchison.
Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered Plc are advising the Essar Group, while UBS AG is advising Vodafone.
JPMorgan Chase & Co is advising Reliance Communications and ABN Amro Holding NV is Qatar Telecom’s advisor.
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