Vodafone Idea disputes rumours that it will be acquired

18 Sep 2023 , 01:12 PM

 On Monday, Vodafone Idea denied having acquisition conversations with Verizon, Amazon, or Starlink.

According to a news article published on Sunday by an online portal, the three US goliaths are competing to buy the cash-strapped telco on the grounds that Vodafone Idea’s stock has increased by almost 20% over the previous two weeks.

‘This is in regard to (a) News Item titled ‘Vodafone Idea to be acquired by a US telecom company Soon? Verizon, Amazon, or Starlink, in the race,’ which is making the rounds in electronic and social media. We would want to claim that the aforementioned news item is untrue. The Company has no such conversations with any of the mentioned persons, according to the BSE filing

The Vi stock increased by 50% to Rs 11.73 between August 16 and September 15, 2023, shortly after ET reported that the telco is close to securing its much-delayed equity capital and that it has term sheets from a number of possible investors.

According to media sources, industry analysts predict that one of the three US corporations – telecom giant Verizon, e-commerce behemoth Amazon, and Elon Musk’s Starlink – will likely become a controlling shareholder in the cash-strapped Indian telco.

With a combined 50.1% interest, the UK’s Vodafone Group and the Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group are promoting Vodafone Idea.

The government converted the telco’s accrued interest towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR) arrears into stock in February 2023, becoming the company’s largest stakeholder with a 33.1% stake.

According to media sources, if the government decides to sell its investment in the company to one of the three US-based companies mentioned, the share price is projected to rise to Rs 25 in the near future.

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