Vodafone CEO picks up merger letter

The top management of Vodafone Group Plc on Tuesday met telecom minister Manoj Sinha and secretary Aruna Sundararajan, a day after the government gave conditional approval to the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

Outgoing Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao and his successor Nick Read were among the senior executives who met the officials at the telecom ministry.

“We are happy that we got the letter (the approval of merger) and we look forward to a successful integration. We will remain competitive,” said Vodafone Group CEO designate and CFO Nick Read.

When asked to comment on the progress of Vodafone India’s merger with Idea, Colao said, “We’re always optimistic about India.”

We are focused on the Indian market and will remain invested here, Read added, without commenting on the dues that have been raised by the government.

On Monday, the department of telecommunications had cleared the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular with conditions to deposit Rs 3,926 crore as spectrum dues and a bank guarantee of Rs 3,342 crore.

MERGING OPERATIONS

• $23 billion+ 
  worth will be the combined operations of Idea and Vodafone, creating the country’s largest telecom operator
   
• 430 million 
  will be the subscriber base for the entity having a 35% market share