Shares of Vodafone Idea shot up to 10 per cent in intra-day trades on Wednesday on reports of a Rs 14,000-crore equity infusion plan.

The investment will see the Aditya Birla group and Vodafone group putting Rs 2,000 crore as fresh equity into the telco, according to media reports.

The promoters had earlier infused Rs 5,000 crore as fresh equity after the government came out with its revival package in 2021. The company is now planning to raise Rs 7,000 crore from external investors either as direct equity or issue of convertible instruments.

The news led to the Vodafone Idea share surging to an intra-day high of Rs 8.48 on the BSE. However, the counter gave up some of its gains and closed at Rs 7.92, a rise of 2.72 per cent over the last close.

More than 8 crore shares were transacted on the bourse on Wednesday against its two-week average of 3.21 crore shares. The company currently has a market cap of Rs 38,554 crore.

While its rivals have been beefing up their 5G infrastructure, Vodafone Idea has lagged behind and the telco has consistently lost subscribers.

``Vodafone Idea has been losing 1 mn subscribers monthly over the last few months, and though the pace of loss has improved, with no 5G roll-outs in the near-term, and the company’s inability to expand 4G roll-outs, we think it likely that the market share loss would accelerate if a tariff hike does not happen until the second half of 2024,’’ analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a recent report.

Merger with Three

Two of the UK’s biggest mobile phone operators agreed Wednesday to merge their businesses to capitalise on the rollout of next-generation 5G wireless technology in the country.

The tie-up of Vodafone UK and Three, which is owned by Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison, will create Britain’s biggest mobile phone player, with a market value of around £15 billion ($ 18.75 billion). Vodafone will account for 51 per cent of the merged firm. with CK Hutchison owning the rest.