Vodafone Idea raises ₹5,400 crore in anchor round ahead of FPO launch on April 18

Telecom services provider Vodafone Idea raised ₹5,400 crore from anchor investors ahead of the launch of its follow-on public offer (FPO) on April 18.

GQG Partners, Fidelity Securities, Motilal Oswal, UBS Fund Management, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius and Jupiter Fund Management and Troo Capital Ltd are among the anchor investors that received shares in the anchor round.

According to an exchange notification, Vodafone Idea allocated over 490 crore (4,90,90,90,908) equity shares to as many as 74 fund schemes at a price of ₹11 per share, mobilising ₹5,399.99 crore.

US-based GQG Partners was the lead anchor investor which cornered around 22% of the anchor investor portion or around 108 crore equity shares through its two fund schemes.

Besides, five domestic mutual funds cornered 79.52 crore equity shares or 16.2% of the total issue to anchor investors through 11 fund schemes.

Vodafone Idea anchor round 3rd largest

Vodafone Idea fundraising could be the third largest anchor book in India. Previously One 97 Communications or Paytm mobilised ₹8,235 crore and Life Insurance Corporation raised ₹5,627 crore in anchor rounds.

Vodafone Idea FPO to open on April 18

The ₹18,000-crore Vodafone Idea FPO is opening for public subscription on April 18 (Friday) and closes on April 22. This is the biggest FPO in India. The company has fixed the band at ₹10-11 per share.

The FPO comprises a fresh issue of 1,636.36 crore equity shares. The lot size is 1,298 shares. The minimum investment will be ₹14,278 for retail investors. The Aditya Birla Group company has set aside 50% of the FPO size for qualified institutional buyers, 15% for non-institutional investors, and the remaining 35% for retail investors.

Vodafone Idea FPO Objects

Vodafone Idea has proposed to use the FPO proceeds for boosting its network infrastructure as part of measures to stem fall in its subscriber base.

The debt-laden telecom services provider, which has been relegated to the third spot behind Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in terms of subscriber base in India, has proposed to use ₹12,750 crore for the purchase of equipment for the expansion of its network infrastructure.

The company will also expand the capacity of existing 4G sites and open new 4G sites as well as set up new 5G sites.

It also seeks to clear certain deferred payments for spectrum to the government and the GST, amounting to ₹2,175 crore and the balance amount for general corporate purposes.

Vodafone Idea owes around ₹2.1 lakh crore to the government. The FPO is part of the ₹20,000 crore fundraising proposal approved by its board in February.

The company has already raised ₹2,000 crore through preferential equity issuance to promoters ahead of the FPO.

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