- Vodafone Idea raises ₹5,400 crore from nearly 60 anchor investors
- Price Band fixed at ₹10 to ₹11 per Equity Share of face value of ₹10 each
- Bid /Offer will open on Thursday, 18th April 2024 and Closes on Monday, 22nd April, 2024.
- Bids can be made for a minimum of 1,298 Equity Shares and in multiples of 1,298 Equity Shares thereafter
- Rolling out 5G services is one of the objectives of fundraising
.NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 17
Vodafone Idea Limited on Tuesday announced it shall open its Bid / Offer in relation to its Further Public Offering of Equity Shares on Thursday, 18th April, 2024.
The Total Offer Size comprises fresh issue of Equity Shares aggregating up to ₹18,000 crore.
The Price Band of the Offer has been fixed at ₹10 to ₹11 Per Equity Share. Bids can be made for a minimum of 1,298 Equity Shares and in multiples of 1,298 Equity Shares thereafter.
The Bid/Offer will open Thursday, 18th April, 2024 for subscription and close on Monday, 22nd April, 2024.
According to Akshaya Moondra, chief executive officer (CEO), Vodafone Idea, the 5G rollout will cover 40% of the company’s overall revenue base in the next 24-30 months, though he declined to share further guidance, as the telecom major is in the midst of the FPO process. The 4G subscriber base of the company has continued to grow for 10 consecutive quarters even though the overall base has declined primarily due to changes in entry-level plans, SIM consolidation, and lower 4G coverage when compared to the competition.
On the other hand, the company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) has also improved over the last 10 consecutive quarters driven by price increase and customer upgrades, which in turn, has supported revenue growth despite customer churn.
The carrier remains the only private company to not have 5G services on offer, unlike Airtel and Reliance Jio.
Company raises ₹5,400 cr from nearly 60 anchor investors
The third-largest anchor book after One 97 Communications and Life Insurance Corporation, Vodafone Idea raised about ₹5,400 crore from nearly 60 anchor investors, including GQG Partners, Fidelity Investments, UBS Fund Management, Jupiter Fund Management, and Australian Super, besides Indian investors such as India Infoline, Motilal Oswal, HDFC Mutual Fund, SBI General Insurance and Quant.
In a statement to exchanges in the early hours of Wednesday, the No 3 carrier said it had finalised the allocation of 491 crore shares to anchor investors at ₹11 apiece. US-based GOG Partners has been allocated the highest number of shares, worth ₹1,345 crore, while Fidelity Investments has invested about ₹772 crore in the FPO. Troo Capital and Australian Super will be investing ₹331 crore and ₹130 crore, respectively.
Of the total shares, 16.20% amounting to ₹874 crore were allocated to five domestic mutual funds, led by Motilal Oswal Midcap Fund which invested ₹500 crore.
The cash-strapped telco will use ₹12750 crore network expansion till FY26, of which ₹5,720 crore will be used to set up 22,000 5G sites and the rest for setting up 26,000 new 4G sites, upgrading existing 4G sites and for general corporate purposes. It owes ₹2170 crore to the government in FY25 as an installment for spectrum bought in a previous auction, and proceeds of the FPO will be used for this payment as well.
For the purposes of the Offer, NSE is the Designated Stock Exchange.
Axis Capital Limited, Jefferies India Private Limited and SBI Capital Markets Limited are the Book Running Lead Managers.
