Vodafone Plans Indus Towers Stake Exit Valued At Over $2 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc is seeking to sell its entire stake in India’s Indus Towers Ltd. in block trades as soon as next week, in a deal that could fetch more than $2 billion, people familiar with the matter said. 

The size of the offering hasn’t been finalized and Vodafone could opt to sell just part of the holding, the people said, asking not to be identified because the terms aren’t public. Reuters reported the plans earlier on Friday. 

Vodafone owns about 21% of the Indian tower company, which it formed as a venture with Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Idea Cellular in 2007. 

Vodafone’s Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle, who took the reigns last year, has sold off underperforming markets and worked to scale back a sprawling empire that at one point stretched from the US to Africa. Vodafone combined its Indian unit with Idea in a deal announced in 2017. 

Vodafone is working with Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas SA and Morgan Stanley on the sale, the people said. 

A spokesman for Vodafone didn’t have an immediate comment. Representatives for Bank of America and BNP declined to comment. A representative for Morgan Stanley didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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