Vodafone Idea promoters contribute Rs 17,920 cr to rights issue

Promoters of Vodafone Idea contributed Rs 17,920 crore to its Rs 25,000 crore rights issue compared to their commitment of Rs 18,250 crore following over-subscription of the scheme, the company said Sunday.

With this contribution, the promoters’ stake in the country’s largest telecom operator increased marginally to 71.57 per cent from 71.33 per cent.

“The Company witnessed participation from both domestic and foreign public shareholders. The issue was oversubscribed approximately 1.08x and the public participation was approximately 1.2x.

“The promoter / promoter group applied for higher than their aggregate rights entitlement in line with their earlier commitment, however, due to strong demand from public shareholders, the final allotment to the promoter / promoter group was Rs 179.2 billion,” Vodafone Idea said in a statement.

The promoter shareholders—Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group— had earlier reiterated to the board that they intend to contribute up to Rs 11,000 crore and up to Rs 7,250 crore respectively, amounting to total of Rs 18,250 crore, as part of the rights issue.

“Post allotment, the total promoter / promoter group aggregate shareholding is 71.57 per cent versus 71.33 per cent as on the record date (April 2, 2019),” the statement said.

“We are progressing well on integration and are well on track to deliver our synergy targets. Our ongoing investments are improving broadband coverage and capacity, enabling us to offer a superior network experience to our customers as well as enhancing our ability to win new broadband customers,” said Balesh Sharma, CEO, Vodafone Idea.

The Capital Raising Committee of the board of directors of Vodafone Idea Limited at its meeting Saturday approved the basis of allotment of equity shares to the eligible shareholders including renouncees, to conclude India’s largest rights issue offering.

“We are pleased to announce the successful closure of India’s largest rights issue offering, which witnessed participation from promoters along with the strong demand from other marquee existing shareholders and new investors.

“This funding along with the monetisation of our stake in Indus will allow us to make the required investments in the business to achieve our strategic goals,” said Akshaya Moondra, CFO, Vodafone Idea.

The board of directors on March 20 cleared the Rs 25,000-crore rights issue at a price of Rs 12.50 per equity share, a steep 61 per cent discount to the prevailing market rate.

In a regulatory filing, the company had said the rights entitlement ratio has been fixed at 87 equity shares for every 38 shares held by eligible shareholders of the company on the record date (April 2, 2019).

The rights issue opened on April 10 and closed on April 24. According to Citi Research, the successful completion of the capital raise is positive for the company as it could strengthen the balance sheet, remove going concern risks, and help enhance network capacity and coverage.

The new shares are expected to be listed on the BSE and NSE on or around May 10, 2019.