Asim Ghosh, former Vodafone Essar chief executive has sold his remaining stake in the company to Max India founder Analjit Singh for an unknown amount, reducing the number of Indian partners currently involved in the venture to three.
Ghosh had, in 2009, pared his indirect shareholding in Vodafone Essar from 4.67 per cent to 2.38 per cent by selling a portion of his shares to Vodafone for Rs 3.29 billion.
Following the transaction, Singh’s stake in the mobile operator has risen to 6.24 per cent. Ghosh’s exit preceded the announcement that both Vodafone and Essar would exercise options under which the Ruia-owned group would sell its 33 per cent holding in Vodafone Essar to the UK operator for a pre-agreed amount of $5 billion.
