Vodafone Idea board meet on Thursday to consider share sale to vendors

Experts say this move likely is a way to fully or partly pay off its dues to vendors such as Indus Towers.

“…a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 13 June 2024, inter-alia, to consider and evaluate proposals for issuance of equity shares and / or convertible securities on a preferential basis to vendors,” Vi said in a filing to the stock exchanges late Monday.

Vodafone Idea owes around Rs10,000 crore to Indus Towers, according to analysts. It also has outstanding dues to equipment suppliers such as Nokia and Ericsson.

Bharti Airtel chaIrman Sunil Mittal recently told ET that Vi should clear all of Indus Towers’ past dues, else the struggling telco won’t be allowed to use the tower company’s infrastructure for any new services such as 5G.Airtel is the largest stakeholder in Indus Towers, with around 48% stake.Mittal though added that the Indus board will be flexible with its decisions even if Vi pays a substantial amount and gives a schedule for the rest. “In that case, the Indus board would look into it. The idea is to get them into more tenancies and business for Indus,” Mittal said.

Vi’s stock rose 2.7% to close at a price of Rs16.20 after falling in early trade on Tuesday.