Ruias' Essar for $ 8-bn London listing: Report

LONDON: Ruia brothers-led Indian conglomerate Essar Group is working towards an USD 8-billion listing of their oil and power businesses in London, according to media reports.

"India's billionaire Ruia brothers have begun preparations for an USD 8 billion (5.3 billion pounds) London listing of their oil and power businesses...," the British daily has reported.

The Ruia brothers -- Ravi and Shashi -- are ranked fifth among India's billionaires with a fortune of USD 13.6 billion by Forbes magazine.

The report said the listing could make it the first Indian company to enter London's main market since Vedanta Resources seven years ago.

"Essar is looking at a London listing of a holding company which will have their refinery, power, exploration and production businesses," it reported quoting a source.

Attributing to another source, the daily said that Essar group has already contacted the London Stock Exchange authorities to begin discussions on potential obstacles to a float.

"Group chairman, Ravi Ruia, has been based in the group's London offices in Berkeley Square for nearly four months, developing the group's international plans, and his nephew, Prashant, the group chief executive, has been shuttling back and forth from Mumbai," the report noted.



According to the daily, Essar has also launched an advertising campaign to raise its profile.

Quoting an Essar spokesman, the report said that it was premature to discuss the London listing and stressed that no final decision had been made.

The group appointed JP Morgan Cazenove as its advisor two months ago, it said attributing to a source close to the process.

"London investors will have to weigh Essar's strong growth prospects against its often fraught relationship with its minority share and debenture holders," the report added.

As per the report, Essar is also the sole remaining bidder for three of Royal Dutch Shell's European refineries.

"... it (Essar) plans to triple the capacity of its Indian oil refinery by 2012 and aims to invest over USD 4 billion in increasing its power generation by a factor of five to 6,000 MW," the daily added.