UK-based Vodafone Group PLC (GB:VOD) offloaded its final 3% stake in India’s telecom tower company, Indus Towers Limited. The company announced that it has successfully sold its remaining 79.2 million shares in Indus Towers through an accelerated book build offering. Vodafone shares in London fell by 0.51% as of writing.
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Based in the UK, Vodafone is a telecommunications company offering various services, including voice, messaging, and internet connectivity across fixed and mobile networks. Meanwhile, Indus Towers is an Indian telecom infrastructure company.
Vodafone Finalizes Sale of Indus Towers Stake
This sale marks the completion of Vodafone’s multi-year, phased exit from Indus Towers. The move was mainly driven by ongoing pressure from lenders to settle outstanding debt. Earlier, Vodafone raised €1.7 billion in June 2024 by selling an 18% share in Indus Towers.
According to its latest update, the company raised ₹28 billion ($330 million) from the placing. Out of this, Vodafone utilized ₹8.9 billion ($105 million) to repay Vodafone’s outstanding borrowings secured against its Indian assets and cover transaction fees.
The remaining proceeds of ₹19.1 billion ($225 million) were used to acquire 1.7 billion equity shares in Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) via a preferential allotment. This boosted Vodafone’s stake in Vi to 24.39% from 22.56%.
Vodafone Streamlines Operations to Drive Growth
Earlier this month, Vodafone announced its exit from Italy by completing its sale of Vodafone Italia to Switzerland’s Swisscom AG (DE:SWJ). The company plans to use the €8 billion deal proceeds to reduce net debt and return up to €2 billion to shareholders via a share buyback.
The sale marked the final step in Vodafone’s portfolio streamlining, allowing the company to focus on key telecom markets for sustainable growth across Europe.
Is Vodafone Group PLC a Good Stock to Buy?
According to TipRanks, VOD stock has a Hold rating based on six Hold and two Buy recommendations. The Vodafone share price target is 85.86p, which implies an upside of 29.6% on the current trading levels. The price target has a high forecast of 140p and a low forecast of 65p.
