MUMBAI:
The Capital Raising Committee of the board of directors of Vodafone Idea Limited (“Company”) at its meeting dated May 04, 2019 approved the basis of allotment of equity shares to the eligible equity shareholders including renounces, to conclude India’s largest rights issue offering by the Company of approximately Rs. 250 billion. The new shares are expected to be listed on the BSE and NSE on or around May 10, 2019.
The rights issue of the Company received strong support from both existing shareholders as well as from other investors. 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 (Rs. 0.9 billion over their aggregate rights entitlement). Post allotment, the total promoter/promoter group aggregate shareholding is 71.57% versus 71.33% as on the record date.
Balesh Sharma, CEO Vodafone Idea limited, said “The successful closure of rights issue is a clear indication of the investors’ belief in our post-merger strategy and our ability to leverage the growth opportunities offered by the sector. 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”.
Akshaya Moondra, CFO Vodafone Idea limited, said “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”.
