Vodafone Idea’s new brand identity Vi; Tariff hike on cards

Amid the ongoing financial crisis, Vodafone-Idea today called a virtual; round table to announce a strategic decision. The telecom major launched a new brand identity—Vi (pronounced ‘we’) for itself this morning. The firm had set off a teaser campaign on the social media late Sunday evening. The telco has till now been advertising the two brands separately. The relaunch, coming two years after the August 2018 merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular, is to have a combined brand identity and advertising around it. It’s the final step in the biggest integration of two telecom brands, top executives said.

Coming to market reaction, Shares of Vodafone Idea (VIL) rose as much as 10 per cent to Rs 13.21 on the BSE on Monday. The stock hit its 15-month high of Rs 13.45 in Friday’s intra-day trade. It rallied 75 per cent from its intra-day low of Rs 7.69, hit on September 1. Aftermarket hours on Friday, VIL had announced fundraising of Rs 15,000 crore of equity and debt instruments each with aggregate quantum capped at Rs 25,000 crore. The fundraising plan and the rebranding are indeed sending out a strong signal that it’s going to be around, possibly for years to come.

Vodafone Idea is owned by Vodafone plc and the Aditya Birla group. Vodafone has a 44.39 per cent shareholding in the JV while the Aditya Birla Group holds 27.66 per cent. The two partners have equal control in the board. The merger agreement suggests the Birlas can buy an additional 9.5 per cent from Vodafone to equalise their stakes.