Vodafone Idea’s follow-on public offer (FPO) was subscribed 6.36 times by April 22, the final day of bidding, with investors bidding for 8,011.8 crore equity shares, subscription data from exchanges showed.
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) have taken the lead, subscribing 17.56 times the portion reserved for them. Non-institutional investors purchased 4.13 times their allotted quota of shares reserved. Retail investors picked 91 per cent of their allotted quota of shares.
This is the highest ever subscription in QIB, Large HNI and Small HNI in terms of number of times subscribed and amount garnered.
Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners, which had invested nearly Rs 1,350 crore in Vi’s anchor book, continued to invest in the FPO. Additionally, several other foreign institutional investors, such as Capital Group and Fidelity Investments, subscribed to the issue, according to banking sources.
Vi’s FPO began on a positive note on Thursday, with the issue subscribed 26% on the first day of bidding, largely driven by strong demand from QIBs.
The telecom giant raised Rs 5,400 crore from institutional investors via the anchor book in the upper price band of Rs 11. The price band for the offer has been fixed at Rs 10-11 apiece.
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, GQG Partners, Fidelity, UBS Fund Management, Redwheel Funds, HDFC Mutual Fund, Government Pension Fund Global, Carnelian Capital, Copthall Mauritius Investment, and Societe Generale were among the anchor investors.
The country’s third-largest telecom operator has offered 1,260 crore shares in the Rs 18,000-crore FPO, the largest such offering in the country. This move is part of a larger strategy to gather Rs 45,000 crore through a combination of debt and equity.
Vodafone Idea will spend Rs 12,750 crore of the net issue proceeds for the expansion of the network infrastructure by setting up new 4G and 5G sites and expanding the capacity of existing 4G sites.
Shares of Vodafone rallied 2.17 per cent on Thursday to Rs 13.20 on the BSE. The share price has more than doubled in the past year.
Most analysts recommended subscribing to the FPO, saying that the operator’s prospects stand to improve with the fresh infusion of money after the share sale.
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