The chief executive of Vodafone Group PLC plans to meet with Indian government officials to discuss the British company's interest in buying a controlling stake in a leading Indian mobile phone company, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said Tuesday.
Nath said Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin had requested the meeting to talk about Vodafone's potential bid for a 67 percent share in India's Hutchison Essar Ltd. The stake is currently held by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., which has confirmed it has been approached by a number of unnamed parties.
Nath said the meeting would be held Wednesday.
Media reports said that Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company, made a formal approach for the stake last week and that the British company had sent officials to India to examine Hutchison Essar's financial books.
Vodafone and Hutchison Essar declined to comment on the reports. The Essar Group, the Indian-based conglomerate that holds the other 33 percent of Hutchison Essar, also declined to comment.
Nath said that EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had also called him to discuss regulatory issues regarding the potential bid.
"I told him that we follow the best commercial practices on all such issues," Nath said.
Vodafone's approach has reportedly valued all of Hutchison Essar at between $17 billion and $18 billion.
The acquisition would give Vodafone, which is looking to offset slowing European customer subscription rates, a strong presence in one of the world's fastest growing mobile phone markets.
However, a move from the British company could spark a bidding war, with reports that the Essar Group is interested in buying its partner's stake.
India's Reliance Communications, the London-based Hinduja brothers, Malaysia's Maxis Communications Bhd. and Egypt's Orascom Telecommunications are all also reported to be interested.
Any deal is also likely to be dependent on Vodafone managing to avoid a one-year non-competition clause with its current India mobile phone partner Bharti Airtel Ltd., in which it holds a 10 percent stake.
Bharti, India's top cell phone company, said it has been in touch with Vodafone over its interest in Hutchison Essar.
Bharti Chairman Sunil B. Mittal told reporters that the valuations for Hutchison Essar mentioned in the media were "certainly not cheap."
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