US$19 billion for an Indian telecomm operator
Vodafone made the winning bid for Hutch - decided Sunday in Hongkong. I thought this would be the biggest Monday morning news all over the world. I thought they overpaid. But did they? What do experts say? I thought all top news reporters like cnn and bbc will be reporting about this deal. And of course the Indian newspaper gurus like times of India and Economic times will have a lot to say about them.
I opened cnn.com - Chicks claim 5 Grammys!!!
Where is Vodafone? Where is Hutch? Not a mention in the top stories. Not a mention in the Technology. Not a mention in the Business.
Bcc - Vodafone is a UK company. It has to be the big news all over UK - thinks me. "Democrats wary over Iran claims". That was the big news.
Ok, those are not India focused news. I opened timesofindia.com, once again very confident that Hutch or Vodafone or $19 billion would be definitely the big black eye catcher. Guess what I read ..... think .... yes! cricket!!!!! Sehwag gets World Cup lifeline; Sourav, Pathan in too. Hutch news was somewhere in the main page but definitely not the prime focus.
By now, I was already wondering if $19 billion was a big enough amount to gain top spot in the news. Well, for me $19 seems a not bad amount. More than 6 Starbucks! Just once again to prove myself wrong I forced myself to type economictimes.com and guess what I got - FOR VODAFONE INDIA IS NO LONGER A THIRD WORLD. Was I happy - Oh Yes! So Hutch deal/Vodafone win was purely a economic news. And that was news for me.
Coming up next - Did Vodafone overpay for Hutch?
6 comments:
isn't the title wrong? $19 Billion was for the complete 100%!
oh really? Let me double check and I will change.
thanks for telling.
thank you. $19b was the enterprize value.
Is the deal already thru??
I think I read somewhere that Essar group can use its special powers in general body meeting or something to follow after the biddings to get the 67% Hutch shares as it already holds 33% stake in the company.
yes. The deal is done. Essar and Vodaphone are discussing partnership. Vodafone has offered to buy the Essar stake as well.
Well written article.
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