Essar Oil promoters complete largest privatisation in India Inc

Essar Oil Ltd. (EOL) promoters on Wednesday announced the successful completion of the company's delisting offer, which has emerged as the largest privatisation bid in the history of corporate India. EOL is valued at Rs.38,000 crore ($5.75 billion) of market capitalisation.

The promoters, Oil Bidco (Mauritius) Limited, have acquired 10.1 crore of the 14.25 crore shares held by public shareholders through an offer, as against the requirement of 9.26 crore shares for delisting, Oil Bidco said in a statement here.

The shareholders tendered their shares between December 15 and 21, through the reverse book-building window made available under the delisting regulations.

While the floor price for the delisting was set at Rs.146.05 per share, Oil Bidco has agreed to pay Rs.262.80 per share -- a premium of 80 percent.

The Rs.3,745 crore that will be paid to shareholders makes this the largest payout to privatise a publicly-listed company in India, Oil Bidco claimed.

The shareholders who have not tendered their scrips in the delisting offer can do so at the delisting price for a period of one year from the date of delisting.

Commenting on the transaction, Essar's founder chairman Shashi Ruia said: "We are happy that we have been able to reward our public and institutional shareholders for the faith they reposed in us over the years. I want to take this opportunity to thank investors, stock exchanges and regulators for their support in this journey."

Over the years, Essar Group, through privatisation of its corporate entities Essar Oil Ltd., Essar Ports Ltd., Essar Steel Ltd. and India Securities Ltd., has made a payout of over Rs.7,200 crore to investors, thus providing substantial returns.

With this transaction, Essar ranks among one of the world's largest privately-held conglomerates with large-scale, world-class operations across the globe, spanning oil refining and marketing, power, steel, ports, shipping, EPC and BPO. Essar businesses have revenues of over $35 billion and employ more than 60,000 people.