Vodafone announced it intends to offload its entire stake in India’s largest tower company Indus Towers, with a portion reportedly going to rival Bharti Airtel.
Vodafone has 757.8 million shares worth INR190.7 billion ($2.56 billion). The company is starting off with the sale of 63.6 million Indus shares stating it is currently in talks with various interested parties for the remaining.
Advanced talks are currently in undergoing with one of Indus’ largest shareholders for a 4.7% stake. According to Refinitiv data, Bharti Airtel is the largest shareholder in Indus Tower, Vodafone did not confirm who its bidder is.
Vodafone had seen turbulent times in the South Asian nation as its local unit Vodafone Idea (rebranded to Vi) lost millions of subscribers to rivals Jio and Bharti Airtel. It was also forced by the government to pay massive arrears which had been resolved by surrendering equity in its local unit.
Vodafone had sold shares in Indus in 2020 to ease its financial burden from the government.
