Vodafone on Wednesday said it will offload its entire 3.2 per cent shareholding in China Mobile, a divestment that will fetch the British telecom major about 4.3 billion pounds.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board will take up on March 20, the proposal of UK mobile giant Vodafone to acquire 52 per cent direct stake in Hutchison-Essar from Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom based on an enterprise value of $18.8 billion.
Hutchison Telecom International Limited, which recently sold its 67 per cent control in mobile service provider Hutchison Essar to Vodafone, has filed a caveat in the Bombay high court requesting that it be made a party to any suit by the Ruias.
Indian corporate house Essar has offered to buy out foreign partner Hutchison Telecom (HTIL) from the mobile joint venture Hutch-Essar for $11 billion (about Rs 50,000 crore), putting the enterprise value at $16.5 billion.
The government on Friday cleared British telecom firm Vodafone's application for buying a majority stake in India's fourth-largest mobile operator Hutch-Essar Ltd.
Hutchison Telecom on Monday entered into a deal with Essar Group to buy over BPL's stake and Essar SpaceTel for $1.15 billion (about Rs 4,900 crore).
Government approval for British telecom giant Vodafone's takeover of Hutch-Essar now depends on whether the two minority stakeholders in the company can prove through documents that they are not acting as benami shareholders for Hutchison.
They turned a small family construction business into a conglomerate with interests in shipping, steel, oil and gas.
Egyptian telecom firm Orascom's CEO Naguib Sawiris has resigned from the board of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom, days before its shareholders are scheduled to consider the sale of its stake in Indian mobile venture Hutch-Essar to Vodafone.
The race for acquiring India's third largest mobile services provider Hutch, has hotted up with Reliance Communications backed by an US equity funder
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom Limited is expected to submit details of loans to two Indian minority shareholders this week to the finance ministry, which is looking into alleged breach of foreign direct investment norms in Hutch-Essar.
British telecom giant Vodafone on Wednesday ruled out any higher offer for buying out Essar's 33 per cent stake in mobile venture Hutch-Essar, saying it would be same as that for Hutchison Telecom's stake.
The Bombay High Court has dismissed Vodafone petition challenging the show cause notice issued by income tax department asking them to pay over $2 billion tax on the multi-crore Hutchinson takeover deal.
The department wants opinion on whether the credit support given by Hutchison Telecom to Analjit Singh and Asim Ghosh (who hold 12.26 per cent in Hutch-Essar) can be considered a benami transaction.
The Ruias are contemplating approaching the Ministry of Company Affairs for its views on the Right of First Refusal (RoFR) clause in their shareholders' agreement with Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL).
Vodafone on said it is seeking legal advice to challenge the Bombay High Court order that dismissed its plea against the I-T department's Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) demand in tax and penalty on the company's acquisition of Hutchison Telecom in a deal of about Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion).
While smart boys like the Ruias of Essar, Ajay Piramal, Max India promoter Analjit Singh laughed all the way to the bank, the Tatas, Anil Ambani, Malaysian tycoon T Ananda Krishna of Maxis (which invested in Aircel), Sistema, and Norway's Telenor burnt their fingers, notes Surajeet Das Gupta.
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, which sold its majority stake in Hutch-Essar to Vodafone, has already made its final submission before the investment regulator.
The little Pug that made mobile company Hutch's television ad one of the most successful campaigns of our times will follow the new master Vodafone, which has acquired Hutchison Telecom's stake in the venture.
Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin on Thursday met key members of the Ruia family, as part of efforts to woo the Essar Group to ensure smooth sailing of mobile venture Hutch-Essar, where the UK company is acquiring majority stake.
Hutchison Telecom on Sunday said talks were on with various suitors for sale of its holding in joint venture Hutch-Essar in India and that there was no time-frame for a decision.
The Delhi high court directed the Centre and Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Friday to complete within two months, an inquiry into Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom allegedly holding more than the permissible 74 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar.
Hutchison Telecom International Ltd will convene an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders on March 9 to vote on sale of its controlling stake in Indian mobile operator Hutch-Essar to UK mobile phone giant Vodafone.
Naguib Sawiris, CEO of Orascom, which is open to acquire Hutch-Essar, said during his India visit that "they (Essar) felt bad because they thought they were not consulted before (the Egyptian firm) came on board.
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Shareholders of Hutchison Telecom would on May 8, vote on a proposal to pay Essar group $415 million to ensure smooth transaction with UK's Vodafone for sale of majority equity in Hutch-Essar.
Hindujas had put in a bid of $20 billion -- higher than Vodafone's bid of $19.3 billion.
Egyptian mobile operator Orascom has said it was open to sell a part of its 19.3 per cent stake in Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, a promoter of Indian cellular joint venture Hutch-Essar.
Max India on Monday said it would completely exit from the telecom business by divesting its meagre stake of about two per cent in the cellular operator Hutchison India to raise funds for its healthcare and insurance services.
The Hinduja Group, which has evinced interest in acquiring India's fourth-largest mobile operator Hutchison Essar, is also considering to buy part of a controlling stake in Telecom Italia, media reports said in London.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
The total revenues and net profit of the top six Indian telecom players, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, BSNL, Hutchison Essar, MTNL and Idea Cellular, more than doubled during the last two years.
The Hinduja group says it will bid for Italian tyre and real estate major Pirelli's stake in Telecom Italia only if the acquisition gives it management control in Italy's largest telecommunications operator.
Indian family-run business houses have in recent years seen ugly public spats between owners over control. But metals-to-ports conglomerate Essar's Ruia family seems to be an exception. Three generations of the Ruia family - founder brother Shashi and Ravi Ruia, their children and grandchildren - continue to live under one roof and jointly run the business empire.
Reliance Communications, along with Malaysian telecom major Maxis, has confirmed its interest in picking up a stake in Hutchison Essar.
In August 2021, Nick Read, chief executive of Vodafone Plc at the time, did not mince his words while speaking about the India business in an earnings call. Replying to an analyst's question on Vodafone Idea, a venture with the Aditya Birla Group that had piled on huge debts and worrisome losses, Read described it as a highly stressed situation that "they (Vodafone Idea) are trying to navigate... "We, as a group, try to provide them as much practical support as we can, but I want to make it very clear, we are not putting any additional equity into India.''
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