Vodafone Group UK, a telecom giant, is reportedly planning to sell its entire $2.3 billion stake in Indus Towers. The company is planning to execute this in stock market block deals in the next few weeks, reports Reuters. Indus Towers is a mega telecom infrastructure company in India. Vodafone Group owns a 21.5% stake in the company. Based on Friday's closing price, Vodafone's stake in Indus is valued at $2.3 billion. The report mentions that the final size of the stake sale could also be smaller. Details have not been finalised yet.
Vodafone has roped in Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and BNP Paribas to manage the deal. The company had earlier said that it would sell its entire stake in the company but then didn't.
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Vodafone Idea (Vi), the Indian unit of Vodafone Group, is the largest customer of Indus Towers. Vi has not been able to clear the past dues with Indus Towers. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, the largest stakeholder in Indus Towers, said that Vi will have to start clearing past dues or come up with a payment plan soon.
The cash-strapped Indian telecom operator has raised a significant sum of money in recent months and plans to utilise most of it for capex (capital expenditure) to expand 4G coverage and capacity along with investing in new technologies such as 5G. Vi also wants to modernise its networks with the help of telecom gear vendors.
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Indus Towers has also been suffering due to Vi's inability to pay up past dues. If and when the telco starts paying up Indus Towers, the tower company would feel a lot of relief. For now, eyes will be upon Vodafone UK to see how much stake in the company they are planning to sell.
