The board members of Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) have approved the allotment of 3.38 billion equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at an issue price of Rs 13.30 per equity share (including a premium of Rs 3.30 per equity share), to three promoter group entities for about Rs 45 billion. The three promoter group entities include – Euro Pacific Securities, Prime Metals and Oriana Investments.
The telecom operator said it has allotted 1,966,635,338 shares to Euro Pacific Securities on a preferential basis, another 570,958,646 shares to Prime Metals and rest 845,864,661 shares to Oriana Investment.
Recently, Vi had announced Rs 145 billion fundraising plans, where promoters (Vodafone Group Plc and Aditya Birla Group) would inject Rs 45 billion. Also, at the extraordinary general meeting held on March 26, 2022, the shareholders of the company had approved the said issuance through a special resolution passed.
Meanwhile, as per the statement by the operator, after the above allotment of the equity shares, the paid-up equity share capital of the company stands increased to Rs 321,188,478,850 consisting of 32,118,847,885 equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each. Also, the operator mentioned that an amount of Rs 100 billion would be raised by way of equity or debt instruments, in one or more tranches.
The fundraising comes at a time when Indian telecom operators are gearing up for the rollout of 5G services. Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is working to prepare the groundwork for the auction of 5G radiowaves, even as regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI’s) recommendations on spectrum pricing and other aspects are expected shortly.
