Vodafone Idea denies talks with Brookfield, Edelweiss

Indian cellco Vodafone Idea has responded to reports earlier this week that it is in talks with Brookfield and Edelweiss regarding the sale of its fibre and data centre assets, respectively. In a Stock Exchange filing, the company said that its intention to monetise its fibre infrastructure and data centre had already been disclosed in its most recent quarterly report, but denied that any negotiations to that effect were taking place with the named firms. The report, covering the three months to end-September 2019, had followed an update regarding its long-standing efforts to monetise its 11.15% stake in infrastructure joint venture Indus Towers, with a note that the company was: ‘exploring options to monetise nearly 160,000km of intra-city and inter-city fibre, we are exploring monetisation of our data centre.’ In its clarification, Vodafone Idea highlighted that if a decision had been made by the company’s directors to move forward on such monetisation plans ‘the company will promptly make the necessary disclosure to the stock exchanges in compliance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.’