Idea Cellular board to meet on Thursday for fundraising proposal

India's third largest telecom operator Idea Cellular on Monday said that the board will meet on Thursday to consider a proposal for fundraising via preferential allotment, qualified institutional placement or other routes.

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the company will be held on January 4, 2018, to consider a proposal for fundraising through a preferential allotment, qualified institutional placement, rights issue or such other route as the Board of Directors may determine to be in the best interests of the company," the telco said in a BSE filing.

The idea further said that "Based on the outcome of the meeting, the company shall make such disclosures, if any as may be required under Regulation 30 of the SEBI Regulation, 2015."

Meanwhile, the telco is waiting for final approvals from authorities for its merger with Vodafone India.

Last year in March both Vodafone and Idea Cellular announced their merger plans in India (excluding Vodafone's 42 percent stake in Indus Towers).

The combined company would become the leading communications provider in India with almost 400 million customers, 35 percent customer market share and 41 percent revenue market share.

Post the amalgamation, Vodafone will hold 45 percent in the combined entity while Idea promoters will hold 26 percent share. The rest will be held by the public.

The combined entity of Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will have the widest network in the country and pan-India 3G/4G footprint.

Vodafone will own 45.1 percent of the combined company after transferring a stake of 4.9 percent to the Aditya Birla Group for circa Rs 39 billion (circa $579 million) in cash concurrent with the completion of the merger.

The Aditya Birla Group will then own 26.0 percent and has the right to acquire more shares from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalizing the shareholdings over time.