Vodafone Idea FPO: Vodafone Idea's follow-on public offer (FPO) has received a strong response from investors, with the subscription rate surpassing five times the offered shares as of 3:00 pm on Monday (April 22), the final day of bidding. According to data from exchanges, investors have bid for 6,396.4 crore equity shares.
The FPO involves 1,260 crore shares in the Rs 18,000-crore offering, marking the largest such offering in India's history. This fundraising effort is part of the company's broader strategy to raise Rs 45,000 crore through debt and equity channels.
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) were the most active participants, subscribing to 14 times the portion reserved for them. Non-institutional investors bought 3.4 times their allotted quota of shares. However, retail investors have shown less enthusiasm, purchasing only 70 per cent of their allotted quota.
The company secured Rs 5,400 crore from institutional investors through the anchor book at the upper price band of Rs 11 per share. The price band for the offer was set at Rs 10-11 per share.
Notable anchor investors include major names such as Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, GQG Partners, and Fidelity, among others.
Vodafone Idea plans to allocate Rs 12,750 crore from the net proceeds towards expanding its network infrastructure, focusing on deploying new 4G and 5G sites and increasing the capacity of existing 4G sites.
On the BSE, Vodafone Idea's shares closed at Rs 12.89, a 0.23 per cent decrease on Monday. The stock has seen a 17 per cent decline over the past three months.
Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra expressed confidence in the FPO's potential to address the telecom operator's subscriber loss issues. With robust investor interest, Moondra anticipates the FPO will generate vital funds for network expansion, aiming to reverse the trend of subscriber erosion.