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LONDON (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Friday said it completed the merger between its Indian unit Vodafone India Ltd and rival domestic carrier Idea Cellular Ltd, in a bid to create the largest telecoms operator in India.
The deal was first agreed in March 2017, and was completed more than a year following clearance of the transaction by all the relevant regulatory authorities.
The telecoms giant came under pressure in India following the arrival of Jio, which came to the market in 2016 with significant free trials and aggressive pricing plans. This led to Vodafone booking a hefty EUR5.0 billion impairment on the Indian subsidiary in November 2016, and scrapping plans for an initial public offering of the unit.
Vodafone said that the combined entity will be named Vodafone Idea Ltd and will remain listed on the Indian stock exchange. It will be jointly controlled by Vodafone and Aditya Birla Group, the owner of Idea.
The chairman of the company will be Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Vodafone India chief operating officer Balesh Sharma will act as chief executive officer.
Vodafone will own 45.2% of the combined company after transferring a stake of 4.8% to Aditya Birla for around INR26 billion, or USD281.4 million in cash. Adita Birla will then own 26.0%.
The news comes after Vodafone's Australian arm, Vodafone Australia, and TPG Telecom on Thursday announced a USD11 billion merger to form a new telecommunications giant.
