Hutchison bidders to borrow $15 bn: Bankers

SINGAPORE: Blackstone Group LP and Reliance Communications Ltd have asked banks led by Citigroup Inc and UBS AG to lend almost $15 billion (Rs 67,500 crore) to fund a buyout of India's fourth-largest mobile-phone company, bankers with direct knowledge of the deal said.

ABN Amro Holding NV, Barclays Plc and Deutsche Bank AG are also part of the group proposing to fund the purchase of Hutchison Essar Ltd, from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, said the bankers, who declined to be named ahead of an announcement.

Reliance Communications is teaming up with Blackstone, manager of the world's largest buyout fund, for the acquisition, which will help India's second-biggest mobile company to expand in the world's fastest-growing wireless market, two people with knowledge of the talks said on December 15.
India's telecommunications industry is forecast to add more than 350 million users by 2010.

"Investors are drawn to the Indian market because of its strong economic growth," said Elan Cohen, a Singapore-based portfolio manager who owns telecommunications companies for the funds he helps run at JPMorgan Private Bank, which has $350 billion in assets.

Reliance Communications, owned by billionaire Anil Ambani, hasn't formally hired any banks yet, the bankers said.

Hutchison Essar is 67 per cent owned by Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd.

Gaurav Wahi, a spokesman for Reliance Communications in Mumbai declined to comment. Blackstone spokesman John Ford, based in New York, couldn't be reached for comment immediately.