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Vodafone Seeks Up to $335 Million in Indus Towers Stake Sale

A communications tower. (Angel Garcia/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc is looking to raise as much as $335 million from the sale of its remaining stake in India’s Indus Towers Ltd. after offloading $1.8 billion worth of shares in June.

The UK-based telecommunications firm is selling 79.2 million shares, representing a 3% stake, with some of the proceeds to be used to pay down debt, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The shares are being offered at 343 rupees to 358 rupees each, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. The bottom of that range represents a discount of 3.98% to Wednesday’s close, while the top end would be a 0.22% premium.

As part of Chief Executive Officer Margherita Della Valle’s efforts to cut exposure to underperforming markets, Vodafone sold an 18% stake in Indus Towers in June. 

International companies have seized on the strength of India’s stock markets this year to offload stakes in local subsidiaries, helping propel secondary share sales to a record $25 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Other multinationals selling off some of their Indian holdings this year include British American Tobacco Plc, which raised $2 billion selling shares in its Indian partner, and Whirlpool Corp. Meanwhile, South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. raised $3.3 billion in a record initial public offering of its Indian business.

Bank of America Corp. is the sole executing broker and placement agent while Kotak Mahindra Capital is a joint bookrunner, the terms show.

(Updates with details from term sheet in 1st, 2nd and last paragraphs)

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