Shares of Vodafone Idea are in news today after the telecom firm said it has received shareholders’ approval to issue preferential shares to Nokia and Ericsson. The move is likely to address its vendor dues and bolster its 5G and 4G network rollout.
The company informed investors through a stock exchange filing on July 11 that its shareholders had voted in favour of the preferential issue at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
Shares of Vodafone Idea closed 0.48% lower at Rs 16.56 on Thursday. Market cap of the firm stood at Rs 1.12 lakh crore. Total 496.03 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 82.40 crore on BSE.
In June, the board of Vodafone Idea cleared the issue of preferential shares worth Rs 1,520 crore to Nokia Solutions and Rs 938 crore to Ericsson India. This amounts to Rs 2,458 crore, with the shares being issued at Rs 14.8 per equity share.
After the preferential allotment, Nokia and Ericsson will now hold a 1.5% and 0.9% stake in Vodafone Idea, respectively.
The shareholder voting was conducted after an intimation dated June 10, which proposed a special resolution to issue equity shares on a preferential basis to the two vendors.
The telecom operator saw widening of losses to Rs 7,675 crore in the March 2024 quarter amid an increase in interest and financing costs.