Mumbai: Vodafone Idea’s Rs 18,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO), India’s biggest, was fully subscribed on the third day, with global institutional investors like GQG, Capital Group, and Fidelity Investments showing strong interest in the telecom company. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) portion was subscribed 1.23 times, while the non-institutional investors (NIIs) portion and the retail segment were subscribed 1.93 times and 42% respectively.
Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners, which had invested nearly Rs 1,350 crore in Vi’s anchor book, continued to invest in the FPO. Additionally, several other foreign institutional investors, such as Capital Group and Fidelity Investments, subscribed to the issue, according to banking sources.
Vi’s FPO began on a positive note on Thursday, with the issue subscribed 26% on the first day of bidding, largely driven by strong demand from QIBs.
The FPO, priced in a range of Rs 10-11 per share, is scheduled to close today. Last week Tuesday, the loss-making telco raised Rs 5,400 crore from 74 anchor investors by allotting 4.91 billion shares at Rs 11 per apiece.
Shares of Vodafone rallied 2.17% on Thursday to Rs 13.20 on the BSE. The share price has more than doubled in the past year.
Foreign institutional investors such as GQG, UBS, AustralianSuper, Fidelity, Redwheel Funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Allspring Global Investments, Morgan Stanley Investment Funds, Government Pension Fund Global, Copthall Mauritius Investment, and Societe Generale were among those that subscribed to the telco’s anchor book. Domestic mutual funds like HDFC, Quant, Motilal Oswal, Baroda BNP Paribas, and 360 One were also among the anchor investors.
Most analysts recommended subscribing to the FPO, saying that the operator’s prospects stand to improve with the fresh infusion of money after the share sale.
