Vodafone Idea shares decline over 4% ahead of ₹18,000-crore FPO launch on April 18

Vodafone Idea (Vi) shares dropped more than 4% in trade on Tuesday, April 16, ahead of the company’s launch of follow-on public offer (FPO) worth ₹18,000 crore.

Shares of Vodafone Idea are under focus as the anchor round for the FPO opens today.

The telecom stock opened lower at ₹12.85 and further dropped as much as 4.56% to a low of ₹12.55 apiece on the NSE. However, the stock recovered some losses to close 1.90% lower at ₹12.9 apiece on NSE.

Vodafone Idea FPO subscription, price band and lot size

Termed as India's largest FPO so far, the book-built issue opens for subscription on April 18 and closes on April 22. The Vi FPO share allotment is scheduled on April 23.

The tentative date for the listing of Vi FPO shares on both the BSE and NSE is April 25.

The price band for the Vodafone FPO has been set at ₹10 to ₹11 per share, with the minimum lot size set at 1,298 equity shares.

Vodafone Idea plans to allocate the net proceeds from the FPO towards objectives, such as buying equipment to improve network infrastructure. This includes establishing new 4G sites, improving the capacity of existing 4G sites and deploying new 5G sites.

A portion of the proceeds will also be used to settle a few deferred payments for spectrum to the Department of Telecommunications, including the associated Goods and Services Tax. Some of the proceeds will be used to meet general corporate expenses as well.