Vodafone, Idea in merger talks

In a move aimed at thwarting the threat from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, two of India’s biggest telecom operators, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, have initiated talks to merge their operations.

If the merger goes through, it will result in the creation of the country’s biggest telecom company, both in terms of revenue and subscriber base.

At present, Bharti Airtel is the leader with a total subscriber base of 265 million. Vodafone India ranks second with 204 million users and Idea Cellular is third with 190 million subscribers.

In the event of a merger, the new entity would have a subscriber base of 395.21 million.

“Any merger would be effected through the issue of new shares in Idea Cellular to Vodafone and would result in Vodafone de-consolidating Vodafone India.

“There is no certainty that any transaction will be agreed, nor as to the terms or timing of any transaction,” Vodafone Plc said in a statement.