Dubbing as 'nonsense' any talk of its deal for majority stake in Hutch-Essar being fixed, Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin wondered if Hindujas had made a binding bid.
"We have gone through a competitive bidding process... till the end it was very close," he told
PTI shortly before leaving for Mumbai for his scheduled meeting with Ruias, the 33 per cent stake holder in Hutch-Essar.
Asked if the deal between Vodafone and Hutchison was "fixed" even before the bids were called by Hutchison Telecom International Ltd, Sarin said, "Nonsense... anybody talking about the bidding process being a facade is nonsense... we won through competitive route."
On reports that Hindujas' bid of $20 billion was not entertained while Vodafone's bid at an enterprise value of $18.8 billion was accepted, the visiting Vodafone CEO said, "Ask Hindujas if they had put a binding bid... or ask Hutchison as to what happened.
"We were only participants and did not conduct the bidding process... and still if someone says it was pre-determined, I again say it is nonsense," he said.
Having prevailed over other aspirants, including Reliance Communications, Hindujas and Essar in the deal, Sarin said that while it was for Essar to make a choice to stay in the venture or not, Vodafone would not increase its offer to the Indian conglomerate for their stake.
"We desire Essar to be with the venture as our local partner. But if they decide to exit, we are offering the same price as we made for HTIL's stake," Sarin said.
Sources in the know said that HTIL's offer inviting bids had made it clear that the company had the final say in accepting or rejecting a bid, even if of a higher value. A HTIL spokesperson could not be contacted for comments.
Before the bidding process, Essar had asserted its Right of First Refusal, which Sarin said was not valid vis-à-vis Vodafone.
Asked about the exact investment that Vodafone would be making in Hutch-Essar, including acquisition of 52 per cent stake, Sarin said, "It will be in double digit (meaning $10 billion or more).
While Vodafone got control of 67 per cent equity for $11.1 billion, the UK company has not actually bought 15 per cent stake bing held by minority shareholders including Max
Health Care chief Analjit Singh and Hutch-Essar managing director Asim Ghosh, being favoured by Sarin to continue in his present position.
Consequently, Vodafone's 52 per cent equity would be valued at just below $9 billion, while Sarin has promised to pump in another two $2 billion for expansion of the venture, which he feels would be the biggest in the group in terms of number of subscribers.
The race for Hutch-Essar: Complete coverage