VODAFONE IDEA, WHICH has been struggling to stay afloat, on Friday said it plans to raise up to ₹18,000 crore through a share sale in the country's biggest follow-on public offer (FPO).
The company's shares will be issued, under the FPO, in a price band of 10-11 apiece against Friday's closing price of ₹12.96 on the BSE. The higher end of the price band of ₹11 is at a discount of 26% compared to the recently approved preferential issue price to the promoter entity at ₹14.87.
The share sale will open on April 18 (for anchor investors on April 16) and close on April 22, Vodafone Idea, which is the country's third-largest telecom service provider, said in a stock exchange filing.
This will be the country's largest FPO, surpassing the ₹15,000-crore share sale by Yes Bank in 2020.
The fundraising comes close on the heels of a ₹2,075-crore capital infusion by promoter Aditya Birla Group via a preferential share issue last weekend. It will help the company shore up its position in the domestic telecom market, where peers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are miles ahead.
The funds would also help the company arrest its subscriber churn owing to is weak 4G coverage, which is not available on a pan-India basis.
THEY WILL ALSO be used to launch 5G services and clear government debts related to spectrum. Vodafone Idea has been losing subscribers month after month, has a gross debt of ₹2.15 trillion, and has been posting quarterly losses in the range of 6,000-8,000, crore.
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