Private Equity Trickles into India, Wireless Eyed

The Wall Street Journal reports Blackstone Group and Texas Pacific Group are considering making an offer for Hutchison Telecommunications' Indian wireless firm Hutchison Essar, which is the third largest carrier in India. The newspaper cites people familiar with the matter who say a deal could exceed $8 billion, not including debt assumption. Hutchison Essar has more than doubled its subscribers in the past year to around 20 million. Warburg Pincus is said to have had a large stake in the two leading carriers, Reliance and Bharti Tele-Ventures. All parties declined to comment. According to Dealogic, there has been $38.8b worth of buyouts in Asia (including Japan and India) this year, with India accounting for $3.1b. Private-equity firms are awash in capital raised specifically for Asia, and are coming under increasing pressure to make deals.
• Sources: The Wall Street Journal
• Related commentary: The Rush For Indian Tech Stocks, Barclays and PowerShares To Offer India ETFs, Private Equity Buyouts: The Five Cs, The Private Equity ETF: A Look Under The Hood
• Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Hutchison Telecom Int'l (HTX)

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