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Telco aims to select its advisors next month, according to sources; sale of 10% stake mooted.
Vodafone is reportedly lining up banks for its forthcoming IPO in India, although we are no closer to finding out when the listing is likely to take place.
The telco has asked investment banks to sign non-disclosure agreements with a view to sending out more detailed information about its Indian business, Bloomberg claimed on Thursday.
Its unnamed sources said the operator aims to select its advisors by next month.
There has been talk of a Vodafone IPO in India for some time, and in February group CEO Vittorio Colao indicated that the listing is still very much on the cards. However, he would not be pinned down on a date.
"It could be the end of this year, it could be next year," he told journalists at Mobile World Congress.
Bloomberg’s sources did not have any new information on that score.
However, they were more forthcoming on the size of the offer. The operator could sell around 10% of its Indian business, they said.
Last year, the newswire estimated that the IPO, when it comes, could value Vodafone India at around US$20 billion (€18 billion).
Vodafone is India’s second largest mobile operator by subscribers, claiming a customer base of 194.7 million as of the end of January, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). That gives it a market share of 19.13%, compared with leader Bharti Airtel’s 24.15%.
