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India's Idea to raise 882m ahead of Vodafone merger
Indian mobile phone operator Idea Cellular on Thursday said it planned to raise up to INR 67.5bn (882m) to strengthen its balance sheet ahead of its merger with Vodafone.
In a statement, Idea said it would sell INR 32.5bn in shares (425m) to its main shareholder Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and the rest though a sale to investors or a rights issue.
ABG's stake will rise to 47% from 42% after the deal, Idea said.
"ABG and Vodafone have agreed that ABG will buy a minimum of 2.5% of the merged entity from Vodafone, or such higher stake required in order for ABG to ultimately own at least 26% of the merged entity," it added.
Vodafone will get a minimum of INR 19.6bn (256m) from the sale and Vodafone's ownership in the combined entity is expected to be 47.5% at completion. Any shares over 45.1 percent will not be subject to lock-up and Vodafone will be free to sell the relevant shares without restrictions.
Vodafone and Idea expect to complete the merger in the first half of calendar 2018.