The Silicon Review ^Asia

After the formation of Vodafone Idea from the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, plans have been made to raise Rs 25,000 crore in equity to boost up its balance sheet and meet future capex needs to improve 4G coverage. This move comes from its efforts to go up against the competition fromReliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel. It has also announced its plans to monetize its sizeable fibre assets that have been already transferred to a wholly owned subsidiary. Now, Vodafone Idea’s board will soon be meeting to discuss and finalise the contours of the fund raised.

As said by Vodafone Idea Ltd in a regulatory filing on the BSE, the meeting involving the board of directors will be held on 23^rd January to consider inter alia, a proposal for raising funds, including through rights issue, qualified institutions placement, preferential allotment or any other mode permit-ted under applicable law or a combination thereof as the board may determine to be in the best interests of the company, subject to such regulatory/statutory approvals as may be required.

While the Vodafone Group is set to make a contribution of around Rs 11,000 crore, Aditya Birla Group will contribute up to Rs 7,250 core probably through a rights issue as a part of the planned capital raise. In the combined entity, 45.2% and 26% of the stake are owned by Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group respectively, the latter being the promoter company of Idea Cellular.