Vodafone Idea (Vi), the third-largest telecom operator in India, is eyeing to raise Rs 150 billion or about $1.8 billion through debt. The telco wants to raise this money through banking or financial institutions. The funds will help Vodafone Idea pay off dues and invest in capex to roll out 5G and purchase additional airwaves in the spectrum auctions. Vi also needs to invest money into 4G networks to compete with Jio and Airtel in coverage. According to Bloomberg, Vi plans to raise Rs 150 billion through debt in the next two years. This will be the first part of raising Rs 250 billion through debt.
Vi recently concluded raising Rs 18,000 crore through India's largest FPO (follow-on public offer) and another Rs 2,000 crore through an equity sale to an Aditya Birla Group entity. The report said that Vi has reached out to banks such as the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda, along with some other private sector lenders.
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State Bank of India may take the lead here and form a consortium of state-owned banks and private-sector lenders to disburse funds to Vi in tranches. Vi has paid off bank dues in a timely manner. Even though there's still a mountain of debt looming over Vi, the telco has managed to, at least, clear bank dues without any major defaults.
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The recent fundraiser would allow Vi to fuel its growth capex. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Vodafone Idea, said that Vi will stage a smart turnaround through this fundraiser. Due to inferior networks and a lack of funds, Vi has been losing its customers to other private telecom operators including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. The telco needs to win its market share back and boost its average revenue per user (ARPU) to come into a comfortable position over the next few years.
