Vi had in a late evening statement on Monday said that there is no such rule barring the government from taking equity in the telco even if the company’s shares are trading below their par value.
“Since the company is not required to make any disclosures on this matter, the company is hereby correcting the aforesaid quarterly report by deleting the aforesaid paragraph titled ‘Govt stake in Vi’ which was incorporated erroneously,” Indus<\/a> Towers said in a filing to BSE<\/a>.
The tower company has also submitted an updated Q2 quarterly report to the exchange.
Earlier, Vi had said that Indus, in its quarterly report, had erroneously reported that there was such a guideline, citing Company Law. “We have come across certain media reports incorrectly alluding to below par share price as the reason for delay in VIL’s govt equity conversion,” the joint venture between UK’s Vodafone Group Plc<\/a> and the Aditya Birla Group<\/a> had said. “We have taken up the matter with Indus Towers for corrective action.”
Vi shares were up 1.05% to Rs 8.67 on BSE<\/a> Tuesday.
In its original fiscal second-quarter earnings report, Indus said the Department of Telecommunications<\/a> could convert Vi’s accrued interest on deferred adjusted gross revenue-related dues into equity only after the loss-making telco’s stock price stabilised above the par value of Rs 10, as per Company Law provisions.
“In September 2022, the finance ministry cleared a proposal to convert Vi’s Rs 16,130 crore worth of accrued interest on deferred AGR-related dues into equity, and now DoT needs to finalise the transaction,” Indus had then said.
The equity conversion, which will give the government a 33% stake and make it the largest single shareholder in Vi, is vital for the cash-strapped telco to conclude its much-delayed Rs 20,000 crore fundraising via a mix of debt and equity, especially as potential investors want clarity on this issue.
The company also needs cash urgently to clear steep vendor dues, including around Rs 7,000 crore to Indus Towers.
The dues are also holding up Vi’s bid to tie up 5G gear supply deals.
The equity conversion proposal has been pending since the start of the year.
When Vodafone Idea<\/a> had initially opted to convert the accrued interest into equity on January 11, its shares had closed at Rs 11.80 on the BSE. It has remained below Rs 10 for most of the current financial year. On Monday, the shares closed 0.5% higher at Rs 8.58 on the BSE.
The government has asked the company to present a concrete fundraising plan before it finalises the conversion, ET reported on October 8.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":95218546,"title":"Govt forms 3 panels to evaluate fab proposals","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/govt-forms-3-panels-to-evaluate-fab-proposals\/95218546","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"msid":95221851,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Indus removes Q2 quarterly report para on govt equity conversion in Vodafone Idea","synopsis":"Vi had in a late evening statement on Monday said that there is no such rule barring the government from taking equity in the telco even if the company\u2019s shares are trading below their par value.","titleseo":"telecomnews\/indus-removes-q2-quarterly-report-para-on-govt-equity-conversion-in-vodafone-idea","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":1452,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":6478000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"ETTelecom","artdate":"2022-11-01 11:04:01","lastupd":"2022-11-01 11:04:02","breadcrumbTags":["vodafone idea","indus","bse","vodafone group plc","department of telecommunications","aditya birla group","industry","indus Q2 report"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/indus-removes-q2-quarterly-report-para-on-govt-equity-conversion-in-vodafone-idea"}}" data-news_link="//www.iser-br.com/news/indus-removes-q2-quarterly-report-para-on-govt-equity-conversion-in-vodafone-idea/95221851">