Vodafone Idea Shares List At 7% Premium Over FPO Price

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd. opened at Rs 11.90 apiece, a 7.20% premium over the issue price, on Thursday after its follow-on public offer shares listed on the bourses. The scrip had closed 9.03% lower at Rs 13.10 on Wednesday.

The telecom-operator board approved the issue price of Rs 11 per share for its Rs 18,000-crore follow on public offer. The FPO issue was subscribed 6.36 times with qualified institutional buyers leading with subscription of 17.56 times, according to the exchanges. The face value of the equity shares is Rs 10 each.

Vodafone Idea had mopped up close to Rs 5,400 crore from anchor investors. Marquee investors include GQG Partners, Fidelity Investments, Australian Super, UBS Fund Management and Redwheel Fund. The telecom major allotted 490.9 crore shares at Rs 11 apiece to 74 anchor investors.

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

The company's board also approved raising Rs 2,075 crore from promoter Aditya Birla Group and increasing its authorised share capital to Rs 1 lakh crore.

"Robust engagement from foreign and domestic investors is heartening. Government's path breaking reform package has transformed the telecom sector," KM Birla said at the listing of FPO.

Aditya Birla group remains committed to the telecom sector and the group and Vodafone have cumulatively invested 170,000 crore in the company, Birla added.

Shares of the company is trading 3.05% higher at Rs 13.50, compared to 0.08% advance in benchmark Nifty 50 as of 11:09 a.m. The share price has risen 140.76% in the last 12 months, but declined 19.38% year-to-date.

Out of 15 analysts tracking the company, one has a 'buy' rating on the stock, four recommend 'hold' and 11 suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential downside of 41.6%.