Hutch-Essar: Is Verizon also in the race?

The battle for control of one of India's leading mobile operators, Hutch Essar, may become even more high-profile with a prospective buyer from the US telecom space, Verizon Communications joining the list of potential buyers doing the rounds.

Verizon, which has a market capitalisation of more than $108 billion on the New York Stock Exchange, is the latest name being churned out by rumour mills for the prized Indian firm.

While a spokesperson of Verizon told PTI it was the company's policy not to comment on "this kind of speculation," industry sources said the move could be strategically important for Verizon as the US market was near a saturation level and the Indian market offers great growth opportunities.

Incidentally, Verizon offers wireless services in the US through Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone, one of the interested parties for Hutch Essar.

So far, UK's Vodafone Group and India's Reliance Communications are the only two potential bidders to have made public their interest in acquiring Hutch Essar.

However, Indian partner in the joint venture Essar Group and Malaysia's Maxis Communications are also reported to have made indicative offers for the 67% stake held by the foreign partner Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom (HTIL).

Meanwhile, there have been reports about Egypt's Orascom, Qatar Telecom and a consortium of private equity funds mulling their respective bids for Hutch Essar.