Idea Cellular shares end 6.5% up on CCI nod to Vodafone India merger

New Delhi: Shares of Idea Cellular rose by 6.5 percent on Tuesday after the Competition Commission approved merger of Vodafone India and the company in a US $23-billion deal that will create the country’s largest telecom operator. The stock surged 6.48 percent to close at Rs 97.80 on BSE. Intra-day, it soared 8.43 percent to Rs 99.60. [caption id=“attachment_3854805” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] At NSE, shares of the company went up sharply by 6.42 percent to close at Rs 97.70. The company’s market valuation went up by Rs 2,143.44 crore to Rs 35,267.44 crore. In terms of volume, 49.67 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 5 crore shares changed hands at NSE during the day. Idea Cellular said the transaction is expected to close in 2018 subject to customary approvals. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas and Co, which advised Vodafone in the deal, said the regulator has “unconditionally” approved merger of the telecommunications businesses of Vodafone India and its wholly-owned subsidiary Vodafone Mobile Services, with Idea Cellular. “The US $23 billion transaction is the largest transaction by value in the history of Indian M&A,” it said in a statement on Monday.