Vodafone Idea jumps over 4% on Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd on Friday rallied over 4% in the early trade, as the cash-strapped telecom operator received ₹3,760 crore after selling 11.15% stake in Indus Towers. The stake sale was part of the merger between Bharti Infratel Ltd and Indus Towers. The proceeds from the divestment will allow the telco to partially pay its government dues.

At 9:41am, the scrip traded at ₹9.63 apiece on the BSE, up 3.88% from its previous close, while the benchmark Sensex advanced 0.48% at 43,807.72 points.

The rally was also supported by talks of a consortium of investors comprising US-based Oaktree Capital Management and Varde Partners proposing to invest up to $2.5 billion in Vodafone Idea that owes more than ₹50,000 crore to the department of telecommunications in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.