Vodafone Idea to launch ₹18,000 crore FPO on April 18, road shows to commence on April 15
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: April 12, 2024, 11:27 AM
Summary
Vodafone Idea’s capital raising committee will meet on April 12 to consider and approve the price band and discount. The company will be conducting road shows for the issue from April 15. The issue will be closed on April 22, it said.
Telecom major Vodafone Idea said in an exchange filing on Friday that the company will launch its ₹18,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO) beginning April 18. The issue will be closed on April 22, it said.
An FPO is a process where an already listed company issues new shares to its shareholders to raise fresh funds from the market.
A meeting of the capital raising committee is scheduled to be held on April 12 to consider and approve the price band and discount, the company notified. Vodafone Idea will be conducting road shows for the issue from April 15.
The company had recently received shareholder approval for raising ₹20,000 crore. Vodafone Idea had said it remains actively engaged with its lenders for tying-up the debt funding, which will follow the equity fund raise. “Through a combination of equity and debt, the company plans to raise around ₹45,000 crore. The company’s bank debt currently stands at less than ₹4,500 crore,” it had indicated in an earlier filing.
The telecom had pointed out that the equity and debt fund raising will enable it to make investments towards significant expansion of 4G coverage, 5G network rollout and capacity expansion while also aiding in improving its competitive positioning.
It said the proposed fund raise comes on the heels of a significant improvement in its operating metrics. For instance, the company has grown its 4G subscriber base and average revenue per user (ARPUs) consecutively for the last 10 quarters. ARPU for the quarter stood at ₹145 compared to ₹135 in the same quarter a year ago witnessing a growth of 7.4% y-o-y.
For the third quarter, Vodafone Idea’s revenues grew 0.5% year-over-year to ₹10,673 crore supported by improving subscriber mix, 4G subscriber additions and change in entry level plan.
Vodafone Idea share price is trading 4% lower on the NSE today. While the shares of the company have fallen over 24% since the beginning of the year. However, stock has risen over 108% in the last one year.