State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd., or ONGC, Oil India Ltd., or OIL, and Gail (India) Ltd. may submit a joint bid to counter Vedanta Resources' $8.48-billion-$9.6 billion offer for majority stake in Cairn India. They have already got $10 billion as loan commitments from international banks, say reports.
It is noted that the Oil Ministry is not comfortable with billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Group's offer and has asked ONGC, OIL and GAIL to submit a bid jointly to rival the London-listed miner.
The three firms had informal discussions on the joint bid, even as the Ministry is looking at legal options to deny Vedanta the approval necessary for conclusion of its deal with UK's Cairn Energy Plc, which holds 62.37% stake in Cairn India, sources familiar with the development said.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and UBS, the only three leading bankers, who are not in conflict with the Vedanta-Cairn Energy deal, may be advising ONGC on the counter-bid,' a source said.
ONGC leads the consortium with at least 50% share. OIL and GAIL will each have 20% to 25% share.
ONGC has got informal commitments for funding up to $10 billion for the takeover bid, another source said, adding that the ONGC-OIL-GAIL consortium may make a bid at more than the Rs.405 a share offered by Vedanta.
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