New Delhi: The Indian partner Essar finds itself in an enviable position from the race among global and domestic giants for acquiring mobile player Hutch-Essar without any formal bid.
Essar is now in an unassailable position of deciding whether to exit or stay put – a decision that would decide the fate of the joint venture.
Hutch-Essar is reportedly valued up to $17 billion as global telecom giant Vodafone and domestic major Reliance Communications of Anil Ambani group emerging as the front runner to acquire it.
And even without a formal bid surfacing for the venture, Essar's one-third equity has become the most sought after possession.
While Essar Vice-Chairman Ravi Ruia is in London, UK- based Vodafone is understood to be looking at its option even at the Board level, the competition has suddenly spiced up, creating a virtually unheard of acquisition war without a word spoken by any of the players on record.
Others in the fray for acquiring the venture, where Hong-Kong based HTIL has 67 per cent equity, are reported to be Malaysian company Maxis and Egypt's Orascom which by virtue of its 19.3 per cent equity in HTIL is an indirect stake holder in the Indian venture.
In a situation that could be described as bizarre, media across the globe is reporting all possible permutation and combinations, including the chances of even Essar buying out the foreign partner in the venture or rope in a foreign partner for management control.
Meanwhile, sources said that Orascom chief N Sawaris, who was in India recently, talked to some Essar officials last week, but no confirmation could be obtained.
With reports about the bidding war intensifying, stock market gave out mixed results across various exchanges where all the potential bidders and parties involved are listed.
Reliance Communications' share price rose more than 3 per cent in Mumbai, while those of Vodafone in London, Maxis in Malaysia and Hutchison Telecom in Hong Kong bourses went down.
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