Kumar Mangalam Birla raises stake in Vi, buys 1.86 crore shares

Kumar Mangalam Birla chairman of the Aditya Birla Group ABG), has increased his stake in telecom venture Vodafone Idea (Vi) underlining his confidence in the struggling telco which is looking to raise Rs25,000 crore debt to back up an equity funding of Rs 24,000 crore.

On September 6, Birla bought 1.86 crore shares in Vi, as per data available on the National Stock Exchange. Birla’s investment vehicle Pilani Investment and Industries Corporation also bought 30 lakh shares of the operator on the same day.

The shares of Vi opened at Rs 14.74 per piece on September 6 and closed at Rs 13.35. However, the purchase price of the aforesaid deal was not available.

But at the closing price on September 6, the purchase would be worth Rs 24.8 crore for Birla and Rs 4 crore for Pilani Investment and Industries.

Shares of Vodafone Idea ended 2.88% higher at Rs 13.58 on Tuesday.

ET had reported on Tuesday that in recent weeks, Vi had approached state-owned lenders Power Finance Corp. (PFC) and REC Ltd for loans to meet medium-term funding requirements.The telco is also discussing partial funding of its requirements with the State Bank of India, which may lead a consortium of lenders to meet the bulk of the funding.