The three major stakeholders in the Hutchison Essar venture Essar, Hutchison and Orascom ?? have joined the race for the 5.1 per cent equity held by the Hindujas. All the bids, including one from a government agency in the Middle East, are based on a valuation of the company between Rs 360 billion and Rs 410 billion ($8-$9 billion). Hindujas TMT has received a total of four bids and the company’s board has referred the evaluation and assessment of the bids to one of its committees. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Company Affairs has said that Orascom should have mandatorily consulted its Indian joint venture partner, the Essar Group, before signing the deal. Orascom Telecom’s 19.3 per cent stake in HTIL gives it a 12.19 per cent effective holding and board representation in Hutchison Essar.
