(Evening Standard via NewsEdge) Vodafone is facing a tussle with new Indian partner Essar over management rights, according to reports in Mumbai.
Vodafone is setting about finalising its deal to acquire a 67% stake in Hutchison Essar from Hutchison Telecom for $11.1 billion.
However, the Essar group, which holds the other 33% of the joint venture, is reportedly looking for extra management rights and a bigger stake.
Essar insiders said the company wants to be 'an equal and prominent' partner in the venture and wants its shareholder rights to be protected.
It is looking to wrap up negotiations with Vodafone by the end of the week. The two new partners have been at odds over the issue of Essar's right of refusal in any stake sale.
Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin, speaking in New Delhi last week, denied Essar's claim that it had a right of first refusal over the deal to buy a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, raising fears it could resort to litigation in order to thwart or delay the deal.
Sarin has said that Vodafone will retain Hutchison Essar chief executive Asim Ghosh after it takes control of India's fourth-largest mobile operator.
Hutchison, the Hong Kong parent of the group, has said that the right would only apply if it sold its stake to certain Indian companies, the three rivals of Hutchison Essar.
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