Idea Cellular denies merger talks with Vodafone; shares dip over 2%

Idea Cellular shares plunged nearly 4% on BSE on Wednesday in early trade after the company denied merger talks with its rival Vodafone on Tuesday.

Later, the shares regained marginally. At 1103 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 98.60 per piece, down 2.18% on BSE.

On Tuesday noon, CNBC TV18 reported that Vodafone India is in "exploratory" talks with its domestic rival, Idea. Following to this, the shares of Aditya Birla-led telecom company surged nearly 7%.

Soon after, the regulatory body sought clarification from the company on the same. In which, Idea said, "In this regard, we would like to inform that, the said news item by CNBC TV18 is absolutely untrue and preposterous".

But, if this deal happens, it will be a win-win situation for both Vodafone and Idea as it may help both the companies to bring down Bharti Airtel from its throne as the market leader.

Bharti Airtel has nearly 25.22 crore subscribers in India, followed by Vodafone with 19.79 crore subscribers, and Idea Cellular taking the third spot with 17.46 crore subscribers, according to Trai data till April this year. 

Idea Cellular posted a net profit of Rs 220.4 crore for Q1FY17, a decline of 74% as against Rs 854.8 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2015.