Vodafone kicks off listing plans for India arm; picks Kotak, UBS, ICICI for share sale
03/05/2016 13:26
Telecom major Vodafone India is close to launching an IPO with its British parent picking six investment banks, including Kotak, ICICI and UBS, for the over USD 2 billion share sale process, PTI report said. "Vodafone has kicked off the much-delayed listing plan for its India arm and last week picked Kotak Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS as joint global coordinators of the share sale," media reports said. The company has also picked ICICI Securities, HSBC and Deutsche Bank as joint book-runners, media report said. When contacted, Vodafone India spokesperson directed PTI to reach out to his global counterpart Ben Pandovan in London. None of the i-bankers were ready to confirm the development. The share issue is likely to hit the market only early next year as the company is yet to file the papers with markets regulator Sebi, which is a time consuming process. The British telecom major is learnt to have decided to raise around USD 2-2.5 billion, the sources said, adding it would make the second biggest share sale in the country's capital market history. The biggest share sale was by state-owned Coal India which raised USD 3.5 billion in October 2010. Last October, Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao had said the company had started preparatory work for the initial public offer. Vodafone India is the second largest domestic mobile phone operator with close to 200 million customers. "I can't give you a date but I can tell you we are positively inclined towards an IPO and have started preparatory work," Colao had told reporters on October 14 in New Delhi. The world's largest telecom firm by revenue had last May asked investment bank Rothschild to compile a report about the benefits of a possible IPO, which would provide the company with cash for its India plans. Vodafone has been planing the IPO since 2011, but held back due to regulatory and tax issues.
03/05/2016 13:26
Telecom major Vodafone India is close to launching an IPO with its British parent picking six investment banks, including Kotak, ICICI and UBS, for the over USD 2 billion share sale process, PTI report said. "Vodafone has kicked off the much-delayed listing plan for its India arm and last week picked Kotak Investment Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS as joint global coordinators of the share sale," media reports said. The company has also picked ICICI Securities, HSBC and Deutsche Bank as joint book-runners, media report said. When contacted, Vodafone India spokesperson directed PTI to reach out to his global counterpart Ben Pandovan in London. None of the i-bankers were ready to confirm the development. The share issue is likely to hit the market only early next year as the company is yet to file the papers with markets regulator Sebi, which is a time consuming process. The British telecom major is learnt to have decided to raise around USD 2-2.5 billion, the sources said, adding it would make the second biggest share sale in the country's capital market history. The biggest share sale was by state-owned Coal India which raised USD 3.5 billion in October 2010. Last October, Vodafone Group Chief Executive Vittorio Colao had said the company had started preparatory work for the initial public offer. Vodafone India is the second largest domestic mobile phone operator with close to 200 million customers. "I can't give you a date but I can tell you we are positively inclined towards an IPO and have started preparatory work," Colao had told reporters on October 14 in New Delhi. The world's largest telecom firm by revenue had last May asked investment bank Rothschild to compile a report about the benefits of a possible IPO, which would provide the company with cash for its India plans. Vodafone has been planing the IPO since 2011, but held back due to regulatory and tax issues.
