Zee Media Bureau
Idea Cellular, India's third largest wireless services operator, plans to launch a share sale to raise as much as USD 500 million on Thursday to part fund its capital expenditure including a purchase of mobile radiowaves, three people involved in the deal said.
The Idea share offering is expected to be launched after the local market hours on Thursday, said the people. They declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak about the deal which is not yet public.
An Idea spokesman declined to comment.
Idea is one of the fastest growing mobile operators in the country. The company had been increasing its market share. Last year, it overtook Reliance Communications to become the third largest telco in India.
Its gross revenue grew by 17.3 percent in FY 2014, nearly double the wireless industry growth rate.
"Despite higher network expansion and inflationary pressures, FY 2014 saw an annual EBITDA growth of 37.5 percent, making Idea, the best performer among all the Indian telecom operators," the company had said.
With agency inputs
