The much-awaited merger between Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel is now complete as National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the merger. Telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi) said it received around Rs 3,760.1 crore towards selling its 11.15% stake in Indus Towers. This news is confirmed by Vodafone Idea via an exchange filing late on Thursday. In September this year, it was expected that Vodafone Idea would receive around Rs 4,000 crore for selling its stake in Indus Towers, however, the telco received less than that. Since the merger now secured all the required permissions, Bharti Infratel announced the closing of the deal yesterday.
Vodafone Idea Gets Less Than Expected Amount in Indus Towers Stake Sale
“Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) had elected to receive cash pursuant to the right available to certain shareholders as per clause 1.2 of Part C of the Scheme. Pursuant to the same, VIL has received cash consideration of Rs. 37,601 nm. for its 11.15% shareholding in Indus. The said transaction had been executed and completed on November 19, 2020 ("VIL closing"),” the company said in an exchange filing, late on Thursday.
For the unaware, Indus Towers was jointly owned by Bharti Infratel, UK-based Vodafone Group and Vodafone Idea. Since Vodafone Idea sold its 11.15% stake in Indus Towers, Bharti Group and Vodafone Group will now have a shareholding of 36.7% and 28.12%, respectively in the merged entity.
Bharti Infratel's name will now be terminated and the new name for the merged entity would be 'Indus Towers Limited.'
To recall, the merger between Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel was announced way back in 2018, however, Bharti Infratel pushed the merger to 2020. The proposed merger received approvals from DoT and CCI earlier this year. The newly formed tower company is the “largest tower company in the world outside China.”
Vodafone Idea will now have a slight relief as it will receive some cash for selling the stake in Indus Towers. The financially struggling telecom operator might make use of this cash to pay some part of the AGR dues. According to DoT, the next due date to pay 10% instalment of AGR dues is March 31, 2021.
