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Vodafone on Sunday said it will not block the Essar Group from conducting an initial public offering of the latter's shares in Vodafone Essar.
The British telecom company also said that the decision to exercise either put option on or before May 8 is entirely the choice of Essar.
“Vodafone has not blocked Essar from conducting an IPO of its interest in Vodafone Essar. We have no objection if Essar wishes to IPO its stake,” said a Vodafone statement.
The tussle
The statement comes in the wake of Essar's allegations on Friday that the British telecom firm had objected to an IPO. Essar had said that Vodafone was not allowing it to determine the fair market value of its stake in Vodafone Essar.
The two companies are at loggerheads over a proposal by the Ruias controlled Essar Group to merge two of its entities – Indian Securities Ltd and Essar Telecom Holdings. Vodafone has raised objections to the proposed merger on grounds that it could falsely be used to value Vodafone Essar. The Ruias on Friday had issued a statement that Vodafone was factually incorrect.
Vodafone's response
Countering Essar, in a statement released on Sunday, Vodafone said, “Essar also states that Vodafone's objections are factually incorrect, but does not elaborate and say which allegation is incorrect.
“Our allegations are all based on facts found within Essar company documents filed with various exchanges and government agencies by a number of different Essar controlled companies.”
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