The follow-on public offer (FPO) of Vodafone Idea was subscribed 0.18 times on the first day of bidding. As on 15:24 IST on Thursday (April 18), the issue received bids for 2,22,96,52,480 equity shares against the issue size of 12,60,00,00,001 equity shares.

The portion reserved for retail individual investors (RIIs) was subscribed by 5% with bids of 32,07,13,734 equity shares against offered 6,30,00,00,000 equity shares.

Meanwhile, the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) has received bids for 1,52,85,96,190 shares, implying a total subscription of 42%. The non-institutional investors (NII) category has been subscribed by 0.14 times, recording bids for 38,03,42,556 shares.

The FPO consists of fresh issuance of equity shares for an amount aggregating to Rs 18,000 crore.

The price band for the offer was fixed at Rs 10-11 per share and the minimum bid quantity is 1,298 shares. The issue opened for public participation on 18 April 2024 and it will close on 22 April 2024.

The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds from the issue for purchase of equipment for the expansion of our network infrastructure by setting up new 4G sites, expanding the capacity of existing 4G Sites and new 4G sites and setting up new 5G sites; payment of certain deferred payments for spectrum to the DoT and the GST thereon; and for general corporate purposes.

Before the FPO, the Promoter and Promoter Group held 48.75% stake in the company. Post-FPO, the Promoter holding would come down to 36.87%.

Ahead of the FPO, the company on 17 April 2024 raised Rs 5,400 crore from 74 anchor investors by finalising the allocation of 491 crore shares under anchor portion at a price of Rs 11 apiece.

The investors include GQG Partners, Fidelity Investments, UBS Fund Management, Jupiter Fund Management, and Australian Super, besides Indian investors such as India Infoline, Motilal Oswal, HDFC Mutual Fund, SBI General Insurance and Quant.

Vodafone Idea is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is amongst India's leading telecom service provider. The company provides pan India voice and data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platforms. The company holds large spectrum portfolio including mid band 5G spectrum in 17 circles and mmWave 5G spectrum in 16 circles.

The telecom service provider reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 6,985.9 crore in Q3 FY24 as compared with a net loss of Rs 7,990 crore in Q3 FY3. Revenue from operations increased marginally to Rs 10,673.1 crore in Q3 FY24 as against Rs 10,620.6 crore posted in Q3 FY23.