All Kumar Mangalam Birla articles
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Strategy & ChangeVi attempts to convince investors with massive fundraise plan
Vodafone’s Indian JV makes progress on fundraising plans at long last, but questions remain about debt and dues as deadlines loom. Is INR 450bn/£4.3bn/€5bn enough to recuperate the flailing operator?
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Weekly BriefingsVodafonewatch Weekly: another week, another M&A headache
20-plus key updates from around Vodafone and its ecosystem, including: e& stake under scrutiny; Nowo no-go makes for M&A stumble; SpaceMobile gets Vodafone financial boost; Indus points finger at Vi as payments fail to materialise; plus much more in Europe, Africa, further afield…
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Financial & PerformanceOverdue Vi cash yet to materialise for Indus Towers
Indus Towers confirms Vi has failed to stick to a payments plan that would have paid off the operator’s sizeable debts to the TowerCo.
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Financial & PerformanceTroubled Vi to plough funds into 5G as losses mount
Aditya Birla Group Chairman pledges “significant investment” in Vi’s 5G rollout, but timelines and funding remain unclear.
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PremiumVodafone Peoplewatch: new OpCo CEO amid changes in Europe
April 2023 update: Series of changes include new Albania CEO and senior swaps in Greece and Hungary.
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Network & InfrastructureModi hears 5G plans from Airtel, Jio but nothing from Vi
Vi keeps quiet on 5G intentions at India Mobile Congress, inaugurated on Saturday by Prime Minister Modi.
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Financial & PerformanceVi reports further losses as government takeover looms
Net loss grows 60% year-on-year, with revenue down 10.7%. Earnings report comes amid expectation that Indian government will take majority stake in struggling JV. Absence of annual profit since launch of Reliance Jio in 2016.
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OperationsVi selling majority stake to Indian government in bid to stay afloat
The state is set to receive a 35.8% stake in Vodafone Idea. Share prices drop around 20% in the wake of the news. Stake will be exchanged for easing of the struggling JV’s considerable debt. Government “do not want to run company”, insists Vi CEO
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Venturing & InvestmentsVi can live long and prosper, insists CEO
Takkar welcomes government four-year moratorium on AGR dues and spectrum fees. Confident that relief package paves way for private investment. Vodafone rules out (again) cash injection into JV. Floor pricing issue still to be resolved.
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Financial & PerformanceVi AGR appeal torpedoed; Birla seeks to jump ship
Vi challenges Supreme Court decision to stick with DoT’s AGR liability calculation. Vodafone’s junior partner Kumar Mangalam Birla resigns as Vi Chairman shortly after India’s top court sides with DoT. Vi CEO Takkar claims private investors are more put off by India’s floor pricing than AGR dispute.
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PremiumSpecial Report: Vodafone’s billion-dollar bash
Vodafone has spent much of the last 15 years paring back an eclectic wardrobe of ill-fitting minority interests, built up in more extravagant and expansionist times. But now, after a more cost-conscious round of business reshaping, it’s refilled its portfolio with a new range of partly-owned associates and JVs. ...
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ProfileProfile: Kumar Mangalam Birla, Global Expansionist
Straight-talking and hard-working, Birla is a formidable businessman. His commitment to Vodafone Idea cannot be taken for granted.