Vodafone Idea To Raise Rs 1,980 Crore From UK Parent Via Share Sale

Vodafone Idea Ltd. will raise up to Rs 1,980 crore via share sale on a preferential basis to entities within the UK parent Vodafone Group Plc. The board on Monday gave its nod to sell 175 crore shares to Omega Telecom Holdings Pvt. and Usha Martin Telematics Ltd.

The shares will be issued at Rs 11.28 per equity share, according to an exchange filing.

After the preferential issue, Omega Telecom Holdings' stake will increase from 0.4% to 1.98% in Vodafone Idea, and Usha Martin Telematics' from 0.13% to 1%.

Earlier last week, Vodafone Idea had announced that its board will be meeting to discuss a proposal to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore by issuing equity shares or convertible securities on a preferential basis to entities within the Vodafone Group.

This news followed the announcement that the British telecom operator Vodafone Group Plc plans to divest its entire 3% stake in Indus Towers Ltd. through open market transactions.

Indus Towers, which is India's largest mobile tower installation company, became a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Ltd. in August after a buyback of shares. As of September, Bharti Airtel, led by Sunil Bharti Mittal, held a 50% equity stake in the company.

Vodafone's adjusted gross revenue dues amount to Rs 70,300 crore, while its cash balance is Rs 13,620 crore. In comparison, Bharti Airtel's dues are approximately Rs 44,000 crore, and Reliance Jio's dues are negligible.

On the day VI's Q2 results were announced, the company's CEO, Akshaya Moondra, said that the firm remains engaged with its lenders for tying up debt funding towards the execution of network expansion with planned capex of Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 55,000 crore over the next three years.