Hutchison to list in India by June 2005

Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd, a unit of the telecom giant Hutchison Whampoa, will spin off 10 per cent its fast-growing Indian phone operations in a separate initial public offering in India by June 2005, reported The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa is planning to raise about $1.12 billion through a separate listing for its emerging-markets telecommunications businesses.

The telecom firm's Indian operations contributed 46.5 per cent of the revenue at Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd, the new company that Hutchison will take public in Hong Kong and New York in October this year. The company's Indian operations are considered its most valued holdings, reported the WSJ.

The valuations made by telecom sector analysts of Hutchison's Indian business tentatively peg it at $3 billion (Rs 13,800 crore), indicating that the Indian IPO could be of the order of $300 million (Rs 1,380 crore).

"Our plan is to float the Indian operations by June next year, and list about 10 per cent of the Indian assets -- the minimum required float," the WSJ quoted Hutchison Whampoa Managing Director Canning Fok as saying.

The minimum required by the Indian capital market regulator -- the Securities and Exchange Board of India -- in an IPO is 10 per cent, and Hutchison plans to divide this between foreign institutional investors and Indian investors.

The WSJ reported that the share prospectus, filed for the Hutchison Telecom initial public offering, also said the Indian listing would be done around June 2005.