Jan 30, 2017
Vodafone in talks with India’s Idea Cellular
Vodafone is in talks about a merger of its Indian operations with rival Idea Cellular, a deal that would create a mobile network with around 370m users and form one of the largest telecoms companies in the world. Shares in Vodafone rose more than 3 per cent, to 199p, in early trading on hopes a deal would help counter competition from aggressive new market entrants. "Any merger would be effected through the issue of new shares in Idea to Vodafone and would result in Vodafone deconsolidating Vodafone India," the company added. Vodafone's 42 per cent holding in Indus Towers, a joint venture with Bharti and Idea, would not be included in the merger. Dhananjay Mirchandani, an analyst with Bernstein, said: "That Reliance Jio's entry and it's hugely disruptive pricing move to rapidly build up scale would lead to consolidation was becoming increasingly obvious. Vodafone's confirmation of talks with Idea fits that mould, although the speed at which this is unfolding is indeed surprising."
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