* Plans to sell 20-25 pct stake in energy, power ops-sources
* Listing seen in late April - sources
* Hires JPMorgan Cazenove, Deutsche Bank for sale
(Adds analyst's comments in paragraphs 6-7)
By Surojit Gupta and Pratish Narayanan
MUMBAI, March 8 (Reuters) - Indian conglomerate Essar Group
plans to raise about $2.5-$3 billion by listing its energy and
power businesses on the London bourse in late April, tapping
new investors to fund its ambitious expansion plans.
The company will sell a 20 percent stake in the operations,
one source said, while another said the company could sell
20-25 percent. Essar has hired JPMorgan Cazenove and Deutsche
Bank to handle the deal, said the two sources with knowledge of
the situation. They asked not to be identified as they were not
authorised to speak to the media.
The sale would help expansion plans at Essar, controlled by
billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia and whose interests
span telecoms and energy to steel and shipping.
The group's energy and power operations are valued at about
$12 billion, one of the sources said.
Essar Oil, a group firm, is in talks with Royal Dutch Shell
to buy three European refineries.
The company, which runs a 280,000 barrels-per-day refinery
in western India and owns a 50 percent stake in a Kenyan
refinery, is pursuing the deal as part of plans to have a
refining capacity of 1 million barrels a day.
"The group may be thinking of listing abroad to reflect the
assets they might get abroad," Sonam Udasi, vice president at
BRICS Securities, said.
"Also, once they raise equity abroad, they may be able to
raise debt as well, which will be cheaper than if they were
doing it in India," he said.
The offering could become the second-biggest share sale by
an Indian firm, ahead of Reliance Power's $2.9 billion initial
public offering in 2008 and behind private-sector lender ICICI
Bank's $4.6 billion follow-on sale in the United States in
2007.
Over the weekend, the group said it signed a deal to buy
U.S. coal producer Trinity Coal Partners LLC from U.S.
private-equity firm Denham Capital for $600 million.
The deal is part of the company's strategy to source raw
materials for its global steel and power operations.
Trinity Coal will help fuel the company's North American
steel operations, including its Essar Steel Algoma facility in
Ontario, Canada.
"Essar Group is always looking at a range of different
funding options but has not yet made any specific decision with
regards to its future financing. The group works with a range
of financial advisors to assist the group," the company said in
a statement.
It is the latest in a string of deals for the Essar Group.
In February, Essar sold its tower unit to telecoms tower
firm American Tower Corp for about $432 million.
In November, Essar Group agreed to buy a majority stake in
Dhabi Group's telecommunication businesses in Uganda and Congo.
Essar is Vodafone's partner in India's No. 3 mobile firm,
Vodafone Essar. It holds a 33 percent stake in Vodafone Essar
and holds less than 10 percent in another Indian telecoms firm,
Loop Mobile.
(Additional reporting by Tony Munroe and Indulal P.M.; Editing
by Ranjit Gangadharan; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
