Five suitors for big slice of Hutch pie

Five major players are in the race to pick up a substantial stake in Hutchison-Essar, say sources working on the deal. Among them are two Indian corporate giants ? the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and the Ruia-owned Essar Teleholding, the latter already holding 33 per cent in the company.

Five major players are in the race to pick up a substantial stake in Hutchison-Essar, say sources working on the deal. Among them are two Indian corporate giants — the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and the Ruia-owned Essar Teleholding, the latter already holding 33 per cent in the company.

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The three others who have submitted bids are the global mobile telecom giant Vodafone Group Plc, the Malaysian telecom major Maxis and the Egyptian major Orascom, which holds 10 per cent already.

Anil Ambani's consortium includes private equity investors Blackstone Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and the Carlyle Group, while Essar has teamed up with another consortium of private equity players managed by Morgan Stanley. Maxis is in partnership with the Texas Pacific Group, the private equity firm owned by Vivek Paul, while Orascom is backed by Qatar Telecom.

The bids will be opened on Tuesday in London.
rajendran.manoharan@hindustantimes.com