Vodafone Group is likely to sell its entire stake worth $2.3 billion in mobile-tower operator Indus Towers through block deals next week. Vodafone’s 21.5 per cent stake in Indus is owned through several group companies and is valued at $2.3 billion.
The final deal could be less than the entire stake that Vodafone owns in the tower operator, in case the demand is weak, according to a Reuters report.
Shares of Vodafone Idea settled significantly higher on Friday, while Indus Towers all intraday gains to settle almost on a flat note after the report. Vodafone Idea jumped 4.5 per cent to close at Rs 16.79 and Indus Tower rose 0.13 per cent to settle at Rs 339.95.
According to a Reuters report, Vodafone has hired Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas to help manage the deal.
On April 24, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel denied reports that it was in talks to buy Vodafone Group’s 21.05 per cent stake in Indus Towers. India’s second largest telecom services provider Bharti Airtel is the largest shareholder of Indus Towers, with a 47.95 per cent stake.
"Indus is a provider of critical infrastructure services to the telecom industry and Airtel relies heavily on it. Airtel will therefore always ensure that Indus remains in robust health and financially stable," Bharti Airtel had said in its clarification in April.
In 2022, Vodafone announced that it would sell its entire then 28 per cent stake in Indus Towers.
Vodafone Idea reported a consolidated net loss widened to Rs 7,675 crore for the quarter ended March 2024, compared to Rs 6,419 crore in the year-ago period. The troubled telecom company’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 10,607 crore, up from Rs 10,532 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
