British telecom giant Vodafone has bagged the 67% Hutch Telecom International (HTIL) stake in Hutch-Essar at an enterprise value of $19.3 billion (approx Rs 86,000 crore) which comes to $794 per share
Earlier, Vodafone emerged as the top bidder for majority stake in India's fourth largest mobile player Hutch-Essar, pipping Anil Ambani Group's Reliance Communications, a consortium led by Hindujas, and Essar, whose top brass is in London presumably talking to the British telecom giant.
The fate of suitors, who submitted their bids on Friday, was decided at a meeting of the board of Hutchison Telecom which had put its 67 per cent stake on the block a few months ago, on Sunday.
"Vodafone has offered to make Essar its partner," the report quoting Essar sources, said.
Shashi Ruia has been quoted as being "delighted by the value created by Vodafone."
It was not immediately clear if Essar, which while submitting its bid has asserted its Right of First Refusal on account of its 33 per cent holding in the venture, would get a chance to match the top offer.
Officials of either HTIL or any other suitor could not be contacted for comments on the details of their respective bids.
Vodafone, which is yet to announce the acquisition, has offered to partner Essar, on which the Indian conglomerate said, "We are at the moment evaluating all our options in the best interest of the Group."
Meanwhile, Hindujas has congratulated Arun Sarin, Vodafone CEO, for his acquisition of Hutch-Essar.
While, the winner emerged after a board meeting of HTIL, the process of declaring the highest bidder got delayed till Essar, which had asserted its right of first refusal along with its bid, mulled various options in its agreement with the foreign partner.
Additional inputs: PTI
