Indus Towers block deal: 7.92 crore shares worth ₹2,802 crore change hands at ₹354 apiece

Yesterday, Vodafone Plc, the British telecom company, announced it would sell a 3% stake in the company to clear its debt of about ₹856 crore and use the residual amount to pay outstanding dues of its Indian venture, Vodafone Idea.

The transaction, news reports added, is valued at around ₹2,841 crore as per Wednesday's closing price of Indus Towers stock at ₹358.75 on the BSE.

"Vodafone Group Plc announces that it has launched a placing of its remaining 79.2 million shares in Indus Towers Limited, representing 3% of Indus' outstanding share capital through an accelerated book build offering," Vodafone said in a regulatory filing.

In June, Vodafone sold an 18% stake in Indus Towers for about ₹15,300 crore.

"The proceeds from the placing will be used firstly to repay Vodafone's outstanding borrowings of USD 101 million to Vodafone's existing lenders, secured against Vodafone's Indian assets," the British telecom firm said.

Under the terms of the security arrangements between Vodafone and Indus, Indus has a security over the residual proceeds from a placing to guarantee obligations from Vodafone Idea to Indus under the Master Services Agreements (MSA).

"The proceeds from the capital raise would be used by Vi to pay outstanding MSA dues to Indus," the filing said.

The remaining stake of Vodafone in Indus Towers will be available to the telecom tower firms to guarantee Vi's obligations under the MSA.

Indus Towers Q2 FY25 Results

Telecom infrastructure company Indus Towers reported a 71.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit to ₹2,224 crore for the September 2024 quarter.

Notably, Q2 FY25 had a write-back of ₹1,077 crore in provision for doubtful receivables, aided by collections against past overdue, the company said in its earnings release.

The consolidated revenue stood at ₹7,465 crore, 4.7% higher than the year-ago period.

"Our operational performance reflects sustained demand for network expansion and our endeavour towards securing a larger share of our customers' rollouts. This continues to drive our financial performance, aided by steady collection of past overdue from a major customer," Prachur Sah, Managing Director and CEO of Indus Towers, said.