(Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC on Thursday said the merger of joint venture Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel Ltd in India that was first announced in April 2018 has now been completed.
In October, the FTSE 100-listed UK telecoms firm said the merger was conditional on consent for a security package for the benefit of the combined company from Vodafone's existing lenders for the EUR1.3 billion loan used to fund its contribution to the Vodafone Idea Ltd rights issue in 2019. Consent was received from its lenders that same month.
The new company will be jointly controlled by Vodafone and Bharti Airtel under a new shareholders agreement, in which 1,565 shares of Bharti Infratel will be issued for every Indus Towers share.
In April 2018, Vodafone had its shareholding in the new company valued at USD4.3 billion. As a result, the group will be issued with 783.1 million new shares, or roughly a 29% stake, in the merged company in exchange for its 42% shareholding in Indus Towers. The transaction also valued Indus Towers at an enterprise value of USD10.8 billion.
The merged company is currently listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange, and will in due course be renamed Indus Towers Ltd. It is expected to be worth USD14.6 billion and is likely to have an annual revenue of around GBP3.8 billion.
Shares in Vodafone were down 0.3% at 123.96 pence in London on Thursday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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