23 April 2020 – placing of INWIT shares
The company has completed the placement of 41.7 million shares of Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane S.p.A., equal to approximately 4.3% of INWIT’s share capital, at a price of €9.60 per share. This brought in gross proceeds to Vodafone of approximately €400m, which will be used to reduce leverage. TIM sold an equal number of shares in the placing. As a result of this transaction, Vodafone and TIM’s ownership will decrease from 37.5% each to 33.2%. Vodafone and TIM intend to retain joint control and to hold an equal stake in the share capital of INWIT.
The company has also announced that it has accelerated a payment of US$200m to Vodafone Idea, which was due in September 2020 under the terms of a contingent liability mechanism with Vodafone Idea. This will provide Vodafone Idea with liquidity to manage its operations, and to support the approximately 300 million Indian citizens who are Vodafone Idea customers as well as the thousands of Vodafone Idea employees during emergency health measures, taken as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following the decision by India’s Supreme Court on the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue in October 2019, India’s telecoms operators became liable for licence fees, penalties and interest dating back over 14 years. The shares have started to recover but still look good value. BUY.