The Ruia-owned Essar Teleholding has increased its stake to 30.42 per cent in Hutchison Essar joint venture by buying out 3.43 per cent stake held by a Hutch’s subsidiary Usha Martin Telematic for Rs 267 crore.With this transaction Hutch’s stake in the JV has come down to 53.1 per cent. The company planning to come with an IPO later this year.The purchase follows an agreement between Hutchison, Essar and Usha Martin Telematic, wherein Essar had the option to purchase 3.43 per cent of Hutchison-Essar at the original acquisition price for the Kolkata licence plus a carry cost.‘‘Essar had an option to acquire this stake until June 30, 2005, which it has exercised. Usha Martin is owned jointly by Kotak and Hutchison,’’ Essar Teleholdings said in a release.‘‘This acquisition is part of our decision to enhance our stake in the consolidated entity and also reflects the strong relationship between Essar and Hutch,’’ said Vikash Saraf, CEO, Essar Teleholdings.Spanning its operations across 13 circles, Hutch had stated that their operations have been consolidated under a single entity called Hutchison Max Telecom Ltd. Hutch had earlier said all requisite Indian government and regulatory approvals, consent and permissions for effecting the consolidation have been obtained.According to the shareholding pattern, the shareholders of Hutchison Essar (Delhi), Fascel Ltd (Gujarat), Hutchison Telecom East (Kolkata), Hutchison Essar South Pradesh, Karnataka, Chennai, Punjab, UP West, West Bengal) and Aircel Digilink India (UP East, Rajasthan, Haryana) have transferred all their shares in these companies to Hutchison Max Telecom (HTML).The process has made HMTL the holding company for all the cellular operations of the Hutchison Essar group.
