India’s second- and third-largest mobile-phone service providers, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, are in the process of a merger, and the merged outfit is expected to have a new name and brand identity.
This may come into effect a year after the transaction closes, reports Economic Times.
UK-based Vodafone and Idea, owned by Indian industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, are working toward a new market positioning that will attract customers and retain the brand-recall value associated with both parent companies, the daily added.
The companies are in the final leg of getting regulatory approvals for the merger and expect the deal to close in the first half of this year.
The merger will create India’s largest mobile-phone operator by subscribers and market revenue share. This is expected to put them in a better position to take on the competition unleashed by Reliance Jio Infocomm, owned by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, and the current leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel.