No bar on govt taking equity in company even if shares below par value, Vi

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has issued a clarification on a statement from the Indus Towers Q2 FY23 report that has been making rounds online. It was mentioned in the Indus report that until the time Vi’s stock price reaches Rs 10 or goes beyond that, the government won’t convert the interest dues into equity for itself. Post the equity conversion, the Indian govt is expected to hold a 1/3 stake in the company. Vodafone Idea is one of the biggest customers for Indus Towers. Vi has delayed in making payments to the tower company, and thus Indus has been vocal about how things are with one of the major clients, which would affect the business in a large manner if the payments don’t come. It is not a matter of whether Vi would be able to pay the money or not; it is a matter of ‘when’ it would be able to.

For now, Vi has clarified that govt doesn’t need to wait for the stock price to go reach a certain par value to kick off the equity conversion process. In a statement, Vi said, “We have come across certain media reports incorrectly alluding to below par share price as the reason for delay in VIL’s Govt. equity conversion. We wish to clarify that there is no such guideline that prohibits the Govt. from taking equity if company’s current share value is less than par value.”

Vodafone Idea has specifically mentioned that the statement mentioned in the quarterly report filed by Indus Towers is incorrect. The telco is already in touch with the tower company regarding the matter.

“We are informed that such media reports are sourced from the Quarterly Report for the Second Quarter filed by Indus Towers. This has been erroneously reported by Indus Towers. We have taken up the matter with Indus Towers for corrective action,” Vi said.

The telco further added, “We urge the media to not quote this incorrect information from the mentioned report and if it has already been quoted then issue a suitable corrigendum.” TelecomTalk