Vodafone ropes in ex-India boss for merger with Idea

New Delhi, February 17 

British telecom major Vodafone has brought in Martin Pieters, former Managing Director and CEO of its Indian arm, to work on proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular, sources said.

Vodafone Group chief executive Vittorio Colao is also likely to brief all business heads of the Indian arm over a conference call next week about the proposed merger.

“Martin Pieters has reached India to oversee proposed merger of Vodafone India with Idea Cellular. Vittorio (Colao) will brief all business heads of Vodafone India over a conference call on the merger on February 24,” said a source. Vodafone declined to comment.

Pieters, the longest serving CEO of a telecom firm in India, stepped down on April 1, 2015 to be succeeded by present Vodafone India MD and CEO Sunil Sood.

If the deal is successful, the combined entity will create largest telecom player in the country with revenue share of around 40% and over 380 million subscribers base, as per India Ratings and Research.

However, given the present spectrum holding, revenue and subscriber base, both the companies need to work on synergy to comply with rules.

According to the merger and acquisition rules, an entity should not hold more than 25% spectrum allocated in a telecom circle and 50% on spectrum allocated in a particular band in a service area. — PTI