Bangalore: Vodafone Group has finally given the green signal for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in India, reports Arijit Barman of Business Standard.

According to analysts, Vodafone will go for an IPO in India in early 2013 because of the fluctuations in the world capital markets. However, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) states that Vodafone has not submitted any paper pertaining to the IPO.

In a one of a kind meeting in Mumbai last month, Vodafone had hinted its intentions of having an IPO in India. This meet was for the analysts and investors of the globe. Martin Pieters, CEO of Vodafone India, was also reported to have announced to his team in India regarding the IPO. Vodafone India has asked NM Rothschild, a private investment bank, to help it with its listing on the stock exchange. Hiring Rothschild is a concrete step taken by Vodafone to finalize its IPO deal in India. However, a spokesperson of Vodafone India said this on being asked about the involvement of Rothschild, “It is already known that we are preparing ourselves for a potential IPO in the future. It is premature to comment on any such speculation at this point of time."

Raising an IPO in India is a profitable step taken by Vodafone because India is one of the most productive regions in the world for Vodafone. Presently, India has the biggest subscriber base of Vodafone, with more than 146 million customers.

Rothschild will help Vodafone with the regulations, valuation and pricing, restructuring and appointing book-runners. Though investment banks do not typically assist in IPOs, Vodafone choosing Rothschild is an exception here. This is so because Rothschild is a reputed and experienced firm in western nations and specializes in providing strategies for IPOs. Rothschild has aided Indian firms like – ENIL (Radio Mirchi) and Cairn India during their IPOs. However, Air Deccan and Essar have declined Rothschild’s offer to help them with their IPOs.

The IPO in India could not take place earlier as Vodafone was busy in resolving quite a few issues. Firstly, in 2011, Vodafone bought out 33 percent shares of Essar, thereby exceeding the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit of 74 percent. Piramal Healthcare had to go for a strategic venture of $640 million with Vodafone in August, 2011 in order to lower its FDI to 74 percent from 75.35 percent. Secondly, tough competition, especially from Bharti Airtel, is eating into the market of Vodafone. Lastly, the Delhi and Mumbai offices of Vodafone were charged with irregularities in the additional bandwidth during 2001 to 2003. Vodafone had, however, denied these allegations. The final hearing on this $2.5-billion lawsuit is expected in the coming months.