Vodafone Group has offloaded 20% of its equity stake in Indus Towers through block deals on June 19. This transaction involved 53.30 crore shares of the mobile tower company, totaling Rs 17,065 crore.
The identities of the buyers were not immediately clear, but reports suggest that private equity firms I Squared Capital and Stonepeak were among those interested in acquiring Vodafone’s stake.
Abhilash Pagaria, Head of Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research, noted that this sale would likely result in a float adjustment for Indus Towers in passive indices soon. He anticipated a global passive flow impact of $200 million, with an expected $130 million inflow through the MSCI index and another $65 million through FTSE changes.
Vodafone Group had previously announced plans to offload nearly 10% of its stake in Indus Towers to raise $1.1 million. More recently, a Reuters report indicated Vodafone’s intention to sell its entire $2.3 billion stake in Indus Towers as part of a strategy to reduce its substantial net debt of $42.17 billion.
Currently, Vodafone holds a 21.5% stake in Indus Towers through various subsidiaries. Back in 2022, Vodafone aimed to sell its then-28% stake, but progress has been slow, with only a fraction sold until now.
Analysts at JPMorgan highlighted that the sale of Vodafone’s stake in Indus Towers could generate $2.3 billion, aiding faster debt repayments to vendors and potentially enabling a special dividend for Indus Towers’ shareholders.
