Sarin: never say never for more acquisitions

8220;Never say never,8221; Sarin said in response to a question on whether he would look at more acquisitions when further consolidation takes place in India. However, he said the first step was to build the business.

Sarin said he would like to see Vodafone move up to the leadership position very soon, indicating the possibility of a fierce market battle with second-largest player Reliance Communications and market leader Bharti Airtel, in which Vodafone 4.4 per cent indirectly through Bharti8217;s holding companies.

About his immediate plans for India, Sarin said he would like to grow the business rapidly, expand into rural areas and push for low-cost handsets.

Sarin said Vodafone would make an identical offer to Essar to buy part of its 33 per cent holding and increase Vodafone8217;s stake from the current 52 per cent. FDI rules in telecom allow foreign companies to hold a maximum of 74 per cent, which means Vodafone could buy an additional 22 per cent in Hutch Essar.

8220;We need a strong local partner and they have built a strong company. Essar is very welcome to stay,8221; Sarin said on the sidelines of a global 3GSM conference here. He said Essar would take a call in a few days on whether it would sell part of its holding.

Essar evaluating 8216;all options8217;

NEW DELHI: The Essar group is likely to initiate legal action against Vodafone for entering into a memorandum of understanding MoU with Bharti Airtel to share Hutchison Essar8217;s infrastructure without consulting Essar, which owns 33 per cent in Hutchison Essar, according to a report in the UK daily, The Times.

However, when contacted, Essar officials denied they have planned any legal action. 8220;Essar is awaiting an official communication from Hutchison relating to Hutchison8217;s proposed agreement to sell its stake to Vodafone as reported. On receiving the same, Essar will evaluate all its option in the coming weeks and will take necessary steps in the best interest of the company,8221; he said.

On Monday, Vodafone announced it had agreed to use Bharti Airtel8217;s national and international long-distance infrastructure exclusively for Hutch Essar. It would give half its in-bound international roaming traffic to Bharti for three years and that it would share cell sites with Bharti to contain capex and roll out faster. Vodafone said the move leveraged synergies between recently acquired Hutchison Essar and competitor Bharti. The daily reported that Essar was concerned about Vodafone8217;s move to forge ahead with plans like network sharing without being consulted.