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Hindujas join race for Hutch buyout
Published on Thu, Jan 04, 2007 at 15:51, Updated on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 20:16 in 
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Mumbai: Hinduja group said on Thursday it was interested in buying a stake in mobile phone operator Hutchison Essar Ltd, but was unlikely to settle for anything less than 51 per cent.
"We have expressed our intention to Hutchison and we are waiting for confirmation whether they want to sell the stake," Executive Chairman of Hinduja TMT Ltd, Ashok Hinduja said, adding, "We are not interested in anything less than 51 per cent as we would like to hold a controlling stake.”
Britain's Vodafone Group and Reliance Communications have already expressed interest in buying a stake in Hutchison Essar.
Hutchison Essar, India's fourth-largest mobile phone firm, is 67 per cent owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecommunications International.
The other 33 per cent is controlled by Essar, a steel-to-shipping group controlled by the Ruia family, which itself is reported to want to buy some or all of the firm.
Hutchison has said it has received proposals to buy its stake but has not given details.
The Hinduja family, which runs the back office firm Hinduja TMT and bus and truck maker Ashok Leyland, used to hold a 5.1 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar but sold it to Hutchison last June for $450 million.
"When we sold it, Hutchison Essar was valued around $9.6 billion, let us see how much the seller wants. In transactions like these, there's always a premium to the market or intrinsic value," Hinduja said.
"Funding is not an issue. The Hinduja group is not leveraged at all."
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