Idea Cellular Aims To Raise $560 Million Via IPO

MUMBAI -(Dow Jones)- Idea Cellular, India's fifth-largest mobile phone service provider by subscribers, said it is aiming to raise INR25 billion ($560 million) through an initial public offering, or IPO.

The Aditya Birla Group company, which owns about 66% of Idea, said in a news release filed late Thursday it also plans to offer a greenshoe option of up to INR3.75 billion.

Idea had filed the draft prospectus with market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India for the IPO Thursday. The prospectus didn't include details of a time frame for the IPO as it is awaiting approval by the SEBI.

The company is also planning a pre-IPO placement of up to 15% of the shares to be offered via the IPO, the release said. The net issue to the public will be reduced after the pre-IPO placement.

Idea plans to reserve shares worth INR500 million for allotment to employees of the company with the balance of INR24.50 billion being available for allotment to the public, the release said.

Sixty percent of the net issue to the public will be reserved for qualified institutional buyers. Of the 60%, 5% will be set aside for mutual funds.

Ten percent of the issue will be for allotment to non-institutional buyers, or high net worth individuals, and the remaining 30% will be for retail investors.

J.M. Morgan Stanley Pvt. Ltd., DSP Merrill Lynch Ltd., Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd. and UBS Securities India
Pvt. Ltd. are the bookrunning lead managers to the issue.

-By Mumbai Bureau; Dow Jones Newswires; 91-9900181471; djn.in@dowjones.com

-Edited by Rosalyn Lim

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 8th December 2006