Mumbai | Kolkata: Vodafone Idea is considering raising $1-1.5 billion initially through equity and is in talks with local and overseas investment bankers for running the mandate, said people familiar with the matter. US-based PJT Partners, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Prime Securities, Axis Capital and Kotak Investment Bank are among those with whom discussions have been held, the persons added.
PJT Partners — a spinoff of Blackstone’s financial and strategic advisory services — and Prime Securities are said to be ahead in the race for the mandate, the persons said. The appointments could be made in a few days, and there could be as many as five advisers.
“While the foreign-headquartered i-banks would focus on potential overseas investors, domestic i-banks would be responsible for debt syndication and liaison with debenture holders,” said one of the people.
AGR Clarity to Help in Fundraising
“In the first leg, the telco is looking to raise funds through equity. It will later raise money through the debt route and tap bond markets,” said the person.
Vodafone Idea’s board is meeting on Friday to consider various options to raise funds. The telco’s shares closed nearly 27% higher at ₹12.56 on the BSE, having touched a 52-week high of ₹12.88 in intraday trade. “The board meeting is likely to be more procedural… An enabling resolution would be taken,” one of the persons said.
The developments come after the Supreme Court gave telcos, including Vodafone Idea, 10 years to pay their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. Vodafone Idea’s balance AGR dues amount to nearly ₹50,400 crore. The cash-strapped telco is now moving to raise funds, having received clarity on how much cash it needs — not just for annual AGR dues (estimated at over ₹7,000 crore, beginning March 2022) but also for expanding its 4G network.
Some of the people said Vodafone Idea is believed to to have had exploratory talks with a US-based PE player, besides ecommerce major Amazon.
ET’s queries to Vodafone Idea and the AV Birla Group remained unanswered till press time Thursday. Mails sent to the potential investment bankers did not elicit any response either. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
A spokesman for Vodafone Group said the company “won’t be commenting on ET’s queries”.
An Amazon India spokeswoman said the company “does not comment on speculations of what it may or may not do in the future”.
By
Saloni Shukla
No comments:
Post a Comment