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NEW DELHI: Shares of Vodafone Idea surged 16 per cent on Friday on reports that the company is pushing for equal stake in a proposed Rs 40,000-crore optic fibre joint venture with Bharti Airtel.
The scrip surged 16 per cent to hit a high of Rs 20.45.
Later, the scrip was hovering at Rs 19.25, up 10 per cent at 09:48 am.
This was against 0.23 per cent rise in the BSE Sensex.
Meanwhile, the shares of the company turned ex-rights today.
"Broad agreements to form the JV are in place, with Vodafone Idea’s 156,000 route km of optic fibre and Airtel’s 246,000 route km together eclipsing Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm’s 300,000 route km, which is set to be hived off as a separate unit.
The intention is to bring in a strategic partner in the JV in about a year from deal closure," ET reported.
“The talks are quite advanced.
They will certainly want to monetise (the JV) in some time, but there is no immediate need due to their ongoing fund-raising initiatives,” one person told ET, adding that the deal should close in the quarter ending June 30, with the JV valued at Rs 35,000-40,000 crore.
Earlier in the day, the stock opened at Rs 17.85 on BSE against its previous closing of Rs 17.50.
