Sarin makes overture to Ruias over Hutch bid

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin, in Delhi today to meet government ministers, said he was open to partnering Essar in its attempt to buy Hutchison out of Hutchison Essar.

Sarin's overture to the Ruias came on a day Essar group Chairman Shashi Ruia met Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran to emphasise the group's seriousness in buying Hutchison's 67 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar.

The Essar group holds 33 per cent in the joint venture with Hutchison.

"We will formally bid for Hutchison Essar in a few weeks. The bidding will take place after January," Sarin said. Vodafone today completed its due diligence of Hutchison Essar's books.

In Mumbai, a Reliance Communications board meeting reaffirmed the company's interest in acquiring Hutchison Essar.

Reliance Communications is in line after Vodafone to look at Hutchison Essar's numbers, for which it is learnt to have appointed a KPMG associate.

The Reliance Communications board approved a proposal to raise $1 billion through a foreign currency convertible bond issue and also authorised company Chairman Anil Ambani to take appropriate steps to raise resources, including foreign loans.

On his part, Sarin today met Chidambaram, Maran and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and is likely to meet Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Nripendra Misra and Max India Chairman Analjit Singh tomorrow, although Trai officials were unaware of any scheduled meeting.

"We discussed issues related to foreign direct investment. The regulations on foreign direct investment in India are clear and transparent," Sarin said after meeting Nath.

The minister conveyed to Sarin that the bidding process for Hutchison Essar should follow the best commercial practices and assured the Vodafone CEO that revised guidelines for allowing 74 per cent FDI in telecom services would be notified soon.

"He (Sarin) asked me how he should go about the bidding process," said Sunil Mittal, chairman of the Bharti group.

Vodafone has a 9.99 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel but Mittal said there were no discussions on a possible disengagement during his meeting with Sarin.