VIL in talks to sell Indus Towers’ stake and optic fibre assets for Rs 200 billion

Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) is in talks to sell its stake in Indus Towers and monetise its optic fibre assets for Rs 200 billion. The funds will be used by the operator to reduce its debt, which stood at Rs 1,236.6 billion at the end of 2018. Earlier, VIL had announced its plan to sell an 11.15 per cent stake held by the Aditya Birla Group in Indus Towers as well as 156,000 km of optic fibre assets. Meanwhile, the company is also planning to raise Rs 250 billion through a rights issue to fund capital expenditure and pare its debt. In this regard, the Vodafone Group and the Aditya Birla Group, the promoter shareholders, intend to contribute up to Rs 110 billion and Rs 72.5 billion respectively. Moreover, in case the rights issue is undersubscribed, each of the promoter shareholders will reserve the right to subscribe to a part or whole of the unsubscribed portion.