Vodafone, Essar to announce deal today

The Essar group and Vodafone of the UK have resolved all the contentious issues pertaining to Hutchison Essar Ltd. Both the parties will announce the deal in New Delhi on Thursday. 8220;The details will be announced tomorrow. Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin is coming down to sign the deal and make it public,8221; said a Vodafone official, adding, 8220;All the major issues have been resolved.8221; Vodafone which holds over 51 per cent stake in HEL will have management control in the company with managing director Ashim Ghosh reporting to the UK firm.

However, Ravi Ruia will be the chairman of HEL and Arun Sarin will be inducted as vice chairman. As part of the deal agreed by both the parties, there will be six directors from Vodafone and four from the Essar group. Both the sides have also worked out a comprehensive first right of refusal clause for any stake sale in the future.

The Essar group was also in the race to acquire HEL but lost out to Vodafone in the last lap. After Vodafone8217;s entry, Essar was mulling over various options 8212; including sale of its 33 per cent stake to Vodafone. There were differences of opinion between Essar and Vodafone on various issues, especially Vodafone8217;s decision to tie up with Bharti on sharing telecom infrastructure.