(Reuters) -Vodafone Idea will raise up to 19.80 billion rupees ($233.8 million) through the issue of preferential shares, the Indian telecom company said on Monday.
Vodafone Idea said it will issue shares to Vodafone Group entities Omega Telecom Holdings and Usha Martin Telematics worth up to 12.8 billion rupees and 7 billion rupees, respectively.
The fundraise will likely help the debt-saddled firm pay some of its dues to network infrastructure provider Indus Towers, to which it owes about 50-60 billion rupees, according to Ambit Capital’s Vivekanand Subbaraman.
Vodafone Idea did not specify details about its plans to use the funds.
As of September-end, its total debt pile stood at 2.16 trillion rupees, including deferred spectrum payment obligations it owes to the government.
The company, formed by a merger between the Indian arm of the UK’s Vodafone Group and Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular in 2018, has so far raised about 240 billion rupees in the year.
Parent Vodafone Group announced last week that it was selling its remaining 3% stake in Indus Towers. It will use proceeds to repay its borrowings and infuse fresh capital into Vodafone Idea to help it pay its past dues to Indus, it said.
($1 = 84.7000 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Aleef Jahan and Nishit Navin in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
