Vodafone Idea’s (VIL) follow-on public offer (FPO) of Rs 18,000 crore, the largest in India’s history, received an overwhelming response on its concluding day of bidding, April 22, despite volatile market conditions. The FPO was oversubscribed 6.36 times, with investors offering bids for 8,012.29 crore equity shares against the 1,260 crore shares offered by the telecom player.
The strong investor demand was primarily driven by qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), which include foreign institutional investors (FIIs), domestic financial institutions, and insurance companies. QIBs bid for a whopping 6,321 crore equity shares, leading to an oversubscription of 17.56 times their allotted quota of 360 crore shares.
Non-institutional investors (NIIs) also participated actively, subscribing to 4.13 times of their allotted quota of shares. However, retail investors showed limited interest, subscribing to only 576 crore shares against their allotted quota of 630 crore shares, resulting in an oversubscription of just 0.92 times.
The FPO opened for public subscription from April 18 to April 22, with a price band set at Rs 10-11 per share. On Monday, Vodafone shares closed at Rs 12.89 apiece, reflecting a moderate gain after the successful FPO.
Vodafone Idea plans to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from the FPO, amounting to Rs 5,720 crore out of the total Rs 12,750 crore earmarked for network expansion, towards setting up its 5G network. The company aims to set up 10,000 new 5G sites in FY25 with an investment of Rs 2,600 crore and an additional 12,000 5G sites in FY26 with an investment of Rs 3,120 crore. This investment in 5G infrastructure is expected to drive the company’s long-term growth and competitiveness in the Indian telecom market.
