Vodafone Idea to raise ₹2075 crore from Aditya Birla Group, gets board nod

The board of debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VI) has approved a proposal to raise ₹2075 crore from promoter Aditya Birla Group, the telecom operator informed in a regulatory filing on Saturday.

“The Vodafone Idea board has approved issuance of up to 1,395,427,034 equity shares of face value of ₹10 each at an issue price of ₹14.87 per equity share (including a premium of ₹4.87 per equity share), aggregating to ₹2075 crore to Oriana Investments Pte Limited, on a preferential basis,” the filing stated.

Oriana Investments is an entity under the Aditya Birla Group.

The VI board also okayed an increase in the company’s authorised share capital, from the existing ₹75,000 crore ( ₹70,000 crore equity share capital plus ₹5000 crore preference share capital) to ₹1 lakh crore, the filing noted.

The increased authorised share capital will be divided into an equity share capital worth ₹95,000 crore and ₹5000 crore preference share capital.

On May 8, the telecom firm will hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to seek shareholders’ approval on all the proposals.

Vodafone Idea under debt of ₹2.1 lakh crore
VI, in which the central government now holds a stake of over 33%, has a debt of ₹2.1 lakh crore, and is seeing quarterly losses due to falling subscriber base. According to Trai’s (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) latest data, the company continues to lose on the subscribers’ front.

Trai’s data shows that Vodafone Idea lost 15.2 lakh wireless subscribers, plunging its mobile subscriber base to 22.15 crore in January, in a sharp contrast to rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

In February, the VI board gave nod to raising up to ₹20,000 crore in equity from promoters and investors by June; the proposal was cleared in an EGM on April 2. VI also has plans to raise ₹45,000 crore, through a mix of equity and debt, as it seeks to match services offered by both Jio and Airtel, and arrest a prolonged subscriber loss.