Vodafone to raise €2.8bn from Vantage Towers IPO

Vodafone said on Tuesday that it is expecting to receive around €2.8bn from an initial public offering of its Vantage Towers business on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The price range for the IPO, due later this month, was set at between €22.50 and €29.00 a share. This implies a total market capitalisation for Vantage of €11.4bn to €14.7bn.

Vodafone said Digital Colony, a digital infrastructure investor and operator, has agreed to be a cornerstone investor in the IPO, alongside RRJ, a global equity fund based in Singapore, with commitments of €500m and €450m, respectively.

Vantage Towers chief executive Vivek Badrinath said the IPO was moving ahead "at pace".

"Demand for data and connectivity across Europe is powering growth in the towers sector," he said. "Our superior grid and leading market positions mean we are well placed to benefit from this growth and our recent financial results highlighted the good commercial and operational momentum across the business."

According to data from Refinitiv, the listing will be the largest telecoms IPO since Belgacom was floated in 2014.