Vodafone to launch country’s biggest Rs 18,000 crore FPO

New Delhi, April 12

Struggling telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Friday said it plans to raise up to Rs 18,000 crore through share sale in the biggest follow-on public offer as it scrambles to mobilise resources to stay afloat.

Voda-Idea shares will be issued, under the FPO, in a price band of Rs 10-11 apiece against Friday’s closing price of Rs 12.96 on the BSE. The share sale will open on April 18 and close on April 22, Vodafone Idea, the country’s third-largest telecom carrier, said in a stock exchange filing.

This will be the largest FPO after the previous best of Rs 15,000 crore share sale by Yes Bank in 2020.

VIL’s fundraising — which comes close on the heels of a Rs 2,075 crore capital infusion by Aditya Birla group via a preferential share issue earlier this month — would give the ailing telco the ammo to improve its positioning in the telecom market.