Hutchison Essar plans to come out with ab initial public offering by end-September 2006

Hutchison Essar’s much-delayed initial public offering (IPO) is back on track following a revamp of its shareholding pattern.

The float, which has been waiting for a year now, is likely to hit the market by the end of the second quarter of financial year 2006-07. The size of the issue is pegged at 10 per cent of the expanded equity base of the company and will be on the back ofan estimated internal valuation of between $8 billion and $10 billion. At 10 per cent float, the size of the equity offering works out to over Rs 40 billion, making it the largest domestic telecom equity offering.