OVL off message

For business journalists, a corporate acquisition is always an exciting news development. That excitement appeared to have infected ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), which ended up jumping the gun. Talks have been on for some time for OVL to acquire Videocon's stake in the Rovuma Area 1 offshore oil block in Mozambique. On Monday, the company's corporate communication department issued a press release announcing a $2.5 billion buyout. Within an hour, a counter press release appeared, requesting media organisations to withdraw the original release, adding it had been issued "inadvertently". And just in case the message hadn't got through, another release was sent around midnight, imploring them to remove all references on their websites and other media. The official story from the corporate communication department is that the mix-up was the result of one person's error, but since OVL is a government-owned company, no one's really buying that line.