Essar Oil Limited Delisted – Largest Privatization Deal in the Indian Corporate History

India: Essar Oil Limited, India based oil company successfully completed the largest privatization bid in the Indian corporate history. At the time of de-listing from the stock exchanges, the market valuation of the company stood at INR38,000 Crore (USD6.30 Billion). Prior to the process of privatization, public shareholders of the company held 142.5 million shares. Out of these, 101 million shares were acquired by Oil Bidco (Mauritius) Limited, which is the promoter group for Essar Oil Limited (EOL). Even though the base price for de-listing process was set at INR146.05 (USD2.42) per share, the promoter group agreed to shell out INR262.80 (USD4.36) per share. Altogether, Oil Bidco (Mauritius) Limited paid about INR 3,745 Crore (USD6.21 Billion) to the public shareholders of EOL, thereby making this deal standout as the largest pay-out to privatise a public entity.

According to TechSci Research, “Essar Oil now ranks among the leading privately owned organizations globally with involvement across various sectors including Refining, Steel, Power, Shipping, EPC, Marketing and BPO. This deal is expected to result in speedy finalization of the deal with Rosneft.”