GQG, Fidelity Investments Likely To Participate In Vodafone Idea's Rs 18,000 Crore FPO

Foreign investors GQG and Fidelity Investments are said to invest in Vodafone Idea Ltd. through the follow-on public offer, according to people familiar with the matter. Details of the investments in the FPO were not known immediately. The cash-strapped telecom operator has filed a red herring prospectus for its upcoming follow-on public offer to raise up to Rs 18,000 crore.

Vodafone Idea has approved a price band of Rs 10-11per share for its upcoming offer.

NDTV Profit previously reported that the company is planning to launch a follow-on public offering next week to raise as much as Rs 20,000 crore, according to people aware of the development.

The Aditya Birla Group telecom operator has finalised anchor investors, the people said without providing further details. The investors likely include private equity funds. The company is planning to use the funds raised through FPOs largely for infrastructure investments, the people said.

The Capital Raising Committee is scheduled to be held on April 16, for the purpose of allocation of equity shares to the successful anchor investors pursuant to the offer and for determination of the anchor investor allocation price, according to an exchange filing.

After the Rs 20,000-crore equity fundraise, Vodafone Idea is likely to witness an overall dilution of 26%, according to calculations by NDTV Profit.

However, Aditya Birla Group's stake is likely to remain the same at nearly 10%, as it will infuse Rs 2,075 crore at Rs 14.87 apiece. Total promoter holding is expected to come down nearly 10-38% following dilution in Vodafone Plc.'s stake.

Government stake, which is the largest in the company, is likely to witness equity dilution of 33-24%.

Queries sent to GQG and Fidelity remained unanswered at the time of publishing this copy.

Shares of Vodafone Idea closed 0.23% higher at Rs 12.96 apiece, as compared with a 1.06% decline in the benchmark BSE Sensex.