Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya-Birla Group Idea Cellular, will be the chairman of the new entity – Idea Cellular-Vodafone India, one of the biggest telecom merger announced on Monday.
“It gives me immense pleasure that we reached to an agreement to merge our companies Idea Cellular and Vodafone. We are number two and number three companies at present in the telecom sector with a customer base of 400 million,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vodafone will appoint a CFO.
Vodafone will own 45.1 per cent of the combined company, Idea said in a statement.
"The Aditya Birla Group will then own 26 per cent and has the right to acquire more shares from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings over time," it added.
"For Idea shareholders and lenders who have supported us thus far, this transaction is highly accretive, and Idea and Vodafone will together create a very valuable company given our complementary strength," Birla said.
"The combination of Vodafone India and Idea will create a new champion of Digital India founded with a long-term commitment and vision to bring world-class 4G networks to villages, towns and cities across India," said Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group Plc.