Vodafone Idea has been handed the short end of the stick when it comes to finances in the telecom industry. Already the tariffs are skewed towards the lower end of the spectrum, thus burning holes in the pockets of the telecom companies. Of course, some are better prepared to take the brunt, but Vodafone Idea was certainly not. The telecom company is now looking towards Private Equity investors, Apollo Global Management, to get some funding into their telecom business. However, as is the case with all fundraising plans, there are a lot of ifs and buts which need to be answered before Vodafone Idea is able to infuse cash into its business.
Vodafone Idea Funding Now a Tricky Road
Apollo Global Management is likely to demand a heavy stake in the business if the deal goes through. As for the amount in the discussion, if the talks have a breakthrough, then Vodafone Idea might get funding worth $3 billion (Rs 22,400 crore). As per an ET Telecom report, Apollo Global Management is drilling Vodafone Idea on points of business valuation, the structure of the funding, among other terms. It is worth noting that Vodafone Idea previously had plans of getting fundraisers with a mix of equity infusion and debt instruments. However, those plans have likely been tossed away as Vodafone Idea is relying on a single source for its funding now, and currently, that appears to be Apollo Global Management.
Vi Also Likely to Sell Its Broadband Business
Currently, the UK based company Vodafone Group Plc and the Aditya Birla Group together own 44.39% and 27.66%, respectively, in Vi as its co-promoters. It is also quite likely that given the position of the telco, Apollo is likely to ask for corporate guarantees from both the co-promoters, which they would most likely not be in favour of. Vodafone Idea has somewhere around Rs 22,500 crore to pay in dues which include debt, AGR and spectrum allocation payments. In other news, Vodafone Idea has been known to be in talks about selling its wired broadband service, optic fibre business and data centre business as well to solve its cash crunch.
