Click to play videoNew Delhi: Amid speculations on what will be the fate of Essar after British giant Vodafone acquired Hutch-Essar with a $ 11.1 billion bid, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin visits India on Wednesday to pursue the completion of the deal.
During his visit, he is expected to hold meetings with the stakeholders to give further shape to the transaction. This is his first visit to the country after the acquisition .
There has been much speculation on whether Essar will be a "natural partner" with the British giant by virtue of its stake in Hutch-Essar or be sold out.
"This is too early to talk about the Essar stake being available for sale. My first preference is that they stay partners so that we build a good company in the future," Sarin told CNN-IBN.
Sarin had earlier said that Essar may take 5-6 weeks to respond to this offer and "if they do not want to remain partners in long term with us, we will have to look for another partner for the 33 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar".
Sarin says he's confident of closing the deal in two to three months. Talking about the Vodaphone stake in Bharti, Sarin said holding on to a minority stake will ensure smooth infrastructure sharing, a thought seconded by Bharti Group CMD Sunil Mittal.
Sarin is also scheduled to attend the 3GSM World Congress in Spain on Thursday, where he will meet Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and discuss Vodafone's plans for its India operations.
In Barcelona, Sarin is also likely to meet Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal. In a bid to mark a full-fledged entry into the Indian cellular phone market, Vodafone had agreed to sell its direct stake in Bharti Airtel.
Vodafone had offloaded its 5.6 per cent direct stake in Bharti Airtel to the Bharti Group for $ 1.6 billion under deferred payment basis.
As he spoke on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in the Indian telecom sector Sarin said that the British giant's plans were in place and that they were in adherence to the FDI regulations.
British giant Vodafone is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world in terms of turnover and has a market value of about £86 billion (November 2006).
STATEMENT ISSUED BY ESSAR GROUP |
 Vodafone's offer values Hutchison Essar at around US $19 billion (Rs85,000 crores). This is a good price which reflects the premier position of Hutchison Essar as India's leading operator. Essar owns 33 per cent of the company and we are delighted that Hutchison and Essar have together created this value. We have been offered by Vodafone to be their partner. We are at the moment evaluating all our options in the best interest of the Group. |
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