How Are Vodafone Idea's Shares Reacting To Follow-On Offering Today?

Shares of Vodafone Idea were surging on Thursday as the struggling telecom operator is set to launch its follow-on offering to shore up capital and stay competitive with its peers.

What Happened: Vodafone Idea aims to raise up to ₹18,000 crore through India’s largest follow-on public offering (FPO), which is set to open on April 18 and close on April 22.

The company raised ₹5,400 crore from about 60 anchor investors on Tuesday, making it the third-largest anchor book after One 97 Communications (Paytm) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

Major institutions like GQG Partners, UBS, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, AustralianSuper, Fidelity and domestic mutual funds like Quant and Motilal Oswal subscribed to Vodafone’s anchor book. Over 70% of these investors are foreign institutions, the Economic Times reported.

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GQG Partners led by Rajiv Jain applied for over $400 million (₹3,342 crore) in Vodafone Idea’s anchor book across multiple funds.

The telecom operator has priced the issue at ₹10-11 per share. This is about a 26% discount compared to the ₹14.87 share set for the preferential issue to one of its promoters.

The Indian government holds the largest stake in Vi at over 33%, acquired as part of a previous rescue plan.

Earlier this month, the board approved a preferential share issue to raise ₹2,075 crore from an Aditya Birla Group entity, paving the way for a broader ₹45,000-crore funding program. This includes ₹25,000 crore of debt to help Vi compete with rivals like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Vi needs funds to repay vendors, strengthen its 4G network and launch 5G services. Jio and Airtel have already launched 5G services nationwide.

Unless the government converts its dues into equity, Vi may face a cash shortfall in the second half of FY26 when the moratorium on AGR and spectrum repayments ends. AGR dues amount to ₹70,000 crore.

Price Action: Shares of Vodafone Idea were up 3.09% at ₹13.35 near the start of trade on Thursday.

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