Vodafone Group Plc to sell 9.94% stake in Indus Towers for up to $1.1 billion

livemint.com:

₹310- ₹341 per share, valuing the transaction between $996 million and $1.1 billion, according to a term sheet seen by Mint.Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Jefferies, and BNP Paribas will manage the sale which is slated to open on Wednesday.Mint had reported on Tuesday that Vodafone Group Plc, which owns 21.5% through various entities in Indus Towers, is looking to sell its stake in the mobile tower provider. Private equity (PE) firm I Squared Capital and alternative investment firm Stonepeak were reported to be in the fray as buyers.Indus Towers is India’s largest telecom tower provider with over 219,736 towers covering all 22 telecom circles.

Bharti Airtel Ltd is the largest shareholder with a 47.95% stake. Reuters reported on 14 June that Vodafone Group was looking to sell its entire stake worth $2.3 billion through a block deal.According to the term sheet, Vodafone Group’s wholly-owned indirect subsidiaries Euro Pacific Securities Ltd, CCII (Mauritius), Inc, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Ltd, Trans Crystal Ltd, Mobilvest, Prime Metals Ltd, Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited and Al-Amin Investments Ltd will be selling 268,000,000 shares from their holdings.

A carve out may be created for any bilateral arrangement for acquisition of shares of the company between the sellers and an existing promoter shareholder or its affiliates, whether through an on-market or off-market transaction, it added.In 2022, Vodafone Group sold over 7% in Indus Towers, of which 4.7% was acquired by Bharti Airtel. The proceeds were routed to Vodafone Idea to reduce its debt.