Idea shares jump 12% on tower business demerge talks

Shares of Aditya Birla group's telecom arm Idea Cellular surged nearly 12% during early trade on the media reports which stated that the company is likely to demerge tower business and sell majority to American Tower Corp. 

At 1054 hours the shares of the company were trading at Rs 111.70 per piece, up 8.39% or Rs 8.65 on BSE.

However, more details on the matter is awaited.

Idea Cellular is already in talks with Vodafone India for merger to compete with its rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. 

If the deal is successful, the combined entity will create India's largest telecom firm with a revenue share of around 40% and a subscriber base of over 380 million, according to India Ratings and Research.

The proposed merger of Vodafone India and Idea will create an entity with a revenue of around Rs 77,500-80,000 crore besides eliminating duplication of spectrum and infrastructure capex, the rating agency said in its report.

The deal was announced at the end of January. That time, the shares of the company were trading at Rs 78 per piece. Since then, the company has given returns of 43% in just one and a half months.