Vodafone Idea will seek nod from shareholders to hive off fibre assets

A source said that Vodafone Idea had received a valuation of around Rs 15,000 crore for its around 1.56 lakh kilometre long telecom fibre assets

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea is going to seek approval from its shareholders on June 6 to transfer optical fibre assets to a wholly-owned subsidiary, Vodafone Towers Limited, the telecom service provider said on Saturday. The company has plans to hive off its telecom fibre infrastructure to Vodafone Towers before it is monetised and it had also approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Ahmedabad on April 11 for approval in this regard on April 11.

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Saturday, Vodafone Idea said, "NCLT has directed a meeting to be held of the equity shareholders of the Applicant Company… notice is hereby given that a meeting of the equity shareholders of the Applicant Company will be held…on Thursday, the 6th day of June 2019."

Move aimed at creating separate entity with focus on fibre infrastructure

"… the Transferor Company (VIL) believes that it would be beneficial to restructure its business by divesting the Fibre Infrastructure Undertaking into a separate legal entity with sharper and dedicated focus on the fibre infrastructure business so as to achieve greater infrastructure sharing, operational efficiencies and cost optimisation resulting in more affordable and reliable telecommunications services to its consumers," the company said in the filing.

Vodafone Idea has received valuation of Rs 15,000 cr

A source familiar with the matter said that Vodafone Idea had received a valuation of around Rs 15,000 crore for its around 1.56 lakh kilometre long telecom fibre assets. The company does not plan to make any change in the capital structure or in Vodafone Towers pursuant to the sanctioning of the scheme, it said in the filing.