India: Vodafone/Idea merger wins conditional approval

Vodafone India, along with Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Idea Cellular, settled government dues worth 72 billion rupees (US$1 billion) earlier this week to get the final approval for their merger from the Department of Telecommunications.

“In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecom for the Vodafone-Idea merger, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies,” said Vodafone Group chief executive Vittorio Colao.

During an analyst presentation, Vodafone claimed that the “revenue declines (are) moderating and the merger is on track to close shortly” as it hopes to close the joint venture and begin to capture synergies quickly for both Vodafone-Idea as well as the Indus-Infratel merger.

Telecom tower firms Bharti Infratel and Indus Tower are merging to create the largest mobile tower operator in the world outside China.

Full Content: The Hindu Business Line

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