Hinduja TMT to acquire 1.23% stake in Hutch

IT and BPO major Hinduja TMT (HTMT) has entered into a share purchase agreement with Japanese Sumitomo Corporation to acquire 1.23 per cent stake in Hutchinson Essar.

HTMT will purchase Sumitomo's 100 per cent stake in Pacific Horizon, which holds 24.12 per cent of IndusInd Telecom Network Ltd (ITNL).

ITNL, a joint venture between the Hindujas and Sumitomo, holds a 5.11 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar. So, this acquisition will give 1.23 per cent control in Hutchison Essar to HTMT.

HTMT will purchase 50 per cent of Pacific Horizon stake upfront, while the remaining will be acquired later, a company release said.

Hutchison Essar's much-delayed IPO plan is back on the track following the revamp of its shareholding pattern. The float, which has been hanging fire for a year, is likely to hit the market by the end of the second quarter of this financial year.

The size of the float is pegged at 10 per cent of the expanded equity base of the company and will be on the back of an estimated internal valuation between $8 billion and $10 billion. At 10 per cent float, the size of the equity offering works out to over Rs 4,000 crore, making it the largest domestic telecom equity offering.

Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) has recently announced a reorganisation, Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL) and its subsidiaries extending loans of $324.5 million to two firms, owned one each by Analjit Singh and Hutchison Essar Director Asim Ghosh.

The loans were providing for acquiring a 12.26 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar. Out of this, the companies utilised a total of $288.8 million to buy the stake.

According to statement issued by HTIL to the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and posted on its website, the company gave a credit facility of $124.5 million to Goldspot Mercantile Company Pvt Ltd, a holding company in India owned by Ghosh.

This company, in turn, acquired a 23.97 per cent stake in a joint venture company called Telecom Investments India (TII) for $110 million through a wholly-owned subsidiary.