India Broadband

India’s Essar Group has confirmed that they are going to remain a partner in Hutchison Essar. This comes after Vodafone was confirmed as the company that is going to buy Hutchison’s stake in the company.

Essar Group vice chairman Ravi Ruia said in a statement: “We are not going to exit the business. We will run it together.” Essar has a 33% stake in the company which is the fourth largest mobile service provider in India.

This statement was released after a marathon meeting between the Vodafone team and the Ruias.

Vodafone chief Arun Sarin added in a statement: “I know Ruias from long ago. I respect their partnership. They have created value in the business. We are now trying to iron out issues and will take the business forward together.”

Sarin added that he wanted the steel-to-shipping Essar Group to remain a partner in Hutchison Essar.

Vodafone’ acquisition of Hutchison’s stake in the company is expected to be complete by April this year.

UK based mobile service provider Vodafone is likely to submit its bid for the stake of Hutchison in Indian company Hutch next month.

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said in a statement on their plans: “We will make a bid by the second week of February. We are doing due diligence.”

Vodafone said that they are currently studying the books of Hutch-Essar and they are very much interested in getting a share of this emerging market.

Sarin also has met Airtel’s head Sunil Mittal. Vodafone already holds a 9.9% stake in Bharti Airtel. Sunil Mittal has said in the past that he is ok with the idea of Vodafone selling their stake if they manage to buy Hutchison’s stake in Hutch.

Vodafone face serious competition in their quest of acquiring the stake in Hutch. Other interested parties are Reliance Communications, Maxis Communications and the Hinduja Group.