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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (6209)	9/2/1999 7:49:00 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 12475

I don't think it will happen. If foreign investors gain control of the company, they will first kick out all the fat-assed bureaucratic bungholes of the company, of whom there are plenty in MTNL. You see, there is a reason why the government directly holds more than 50% of the shares in this company! (and who knows, how much it owns indirectly, through the LIC, GIC and other such bureaucratic insurance companies? Could be as high as another 30%). Expect the bureaucrats of MTNL to throw a few roadblocks and derail this one.

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (6209)	9/2/1999 8:07:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 12475

Marathon Power Co of USA to buy Essar Power (India) Ltd. The Essar Group essar.com essar.com USX-Marathon Wesbite usx.com Marathon to rope in ally for Essar Power Veeshal Bakshi & Raghu Mohan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Delhi/Mumbai, Sep 2: Marathon Power of US may bring in a new Indian partner in Essar Power Ltd. Marathon's director (business development) Timothy H Nesler told The Financial Express that Marathon also plans to hike the power generation capacity of the 543 mw plant once the $170 million takeover is implemented. "We are open to the idea of bringing in an Indian partner once the acquisition deal with Essar is finally implemented," Nesler said. Sources said Marathon is looking at doubling Essar Power's capacity to 1,000 mw. The naphtha-fired power plant is expected to be eventually converted into a LNG-fired plant. Marathon Power Company has huge interests in oil and gas. It has gas fields in Russia, and has LNG supply interests in Japan. An LNG handling terminal may be set up at Hazira in the due course. Nesler said Marathon has agreed to sell power to Essar Steel at a concessional rate for a period of 20 years. The original power purchase agreement provides for supply of 215 mw of power to EssarSteel at a concessional price for 20 years. He said Marathon was confident of getting the approval of financial institutions and the Gujarat State Electricity Board for the takeover of Essar Power. The issues with the electricity board are expected to be sorted out only after the general elections. Marathon is believed to have initiated talks with financial institutions for waiver of penal interest on overdue loans. Marathon has also sought a cut in interest rate on existing loans on claims of better credit worthiness. Essar Power's interest overdues as on December 31, 1998, stood at Rs 101.80 crore while overdue lease instalments stood at Rs 23.90 crore. Overdues on the original loan amount are estimated to be around Rs 55 crore. Marathon is buying the entire 100 per cent equity stake from Essar group companies. Marathon and Essar group signed the final takeover agreement for Essar Power on Tuesday. Marathon is to make the payment to Essar within 90 days of the signing of the agreement. Marathon is also taking up all the liabilities which are estimated at over Rs 1500 crore. IDBI leads the consortium of lenders with a rupee exposure of Rs 150 crore and foreign currency loans worth Rs 57.67 crore. It has also given guarantee for external commercial borrowings to the tune of Rs 115 crore. IFCI has an exposure of over Rs 225 crore in the project.(ExpressIndia)