The Rs 25,000-crore Vodafone Idea rights issue was subscribed 80% at 8 PM on Wednesday, which market experts say indicate weak retail appetite for shares of India’s largest telco which has been under immense financial pressure amid intense competition.
The issue had received cumulative bids on the Bombay and National stock exchanges for 16,01,67,80,185 shares compared with the 19,999,830,911 shares on offer, data on the exchange websites showed, at 8 PM on the closing day on Wednesday.
The fund raising is being done as the industry bleeds amid a massive disruption caused by the entry of Reliance Jio over two years back. Vodafone Idea, whose losses widened to over Rs5,000 crore in the October-December quarter with debt at Rs114,760 crore at December end
The competition and financial stress forced Vodafone India and Idea Cellular – then India’s No. 2 and 3 ranked telcos – to merge late August last year to create India’s largest telco.