Vodafone Idea plans to raise Rs 35,000 crore; share trades in the red

Vodafone Idea share price fell about 3 percent in morning trade on BSE on September 11 as reports said that the company was planning to raise Rs 35,000 crore.

As per a CNBC-TV18 report, Vodafone Idea is looking to raise Rs 10,000 crore via the sale of fibre business and data centre. It will raise another Rs 25,000 crore through debt and equity.

As per the report, Vodafone Idea has cleared the appointment of merchant bankers for data centre sale. It wants to sell both the fibre and data centre assets by the end of the year.

The company will engage with more players for the sale of fibre assets. Brookfield and KKR are already in contention, with Brookfield being the front runner, the report added.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The company can do with a fund injection as it has adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues to pay to the government.

On September 1, the Supreme Court allowed Vodafone and other telecom players 10 years to pay the dues but asked the companies to make an upfront payment of 10 percent of the outstanding amount.

According to a department of telecommunications' assessment, Vodafone Idea owes Rs 58,254 crore. It owes balance of around Rs 50,399 crore, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said on July 20.

Shares of Vodafone Idea were trading 1.58 percent lower at Rs 11.24 on BSE at 1140 hours.

Original Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/vodafone-idea-plans-to-raise-rs-35000-crore-share-trades-in-the-red-5825581.html