Idea Cellular (IDEA) announced that it has completed equity issuance of INR35b via the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route (@INR82.5, 10% equity dilution). This, along with capital raising of INR32.5b via preferential issue to promoters (@INR99.5, 8% equity dilution), completes IDEA's equity funding of INR67.5b (17% dilution). Total equity raising by Vodafone and Idea, along with the tower sale, will reduce the combined entity's (Vodafone + IDEA) net debt by INR295b to INR811b, thereby reducing net debt-to -EBITDA to 3.9x on FY20E, assuming combined EBITDA of INR210b (including synergy gains). Fund-raising should provide Vodafone-Idea with much-needed liquidity to ramp-up network and protect market share against deep-pocketed peers, especially in the current hyper-competitive environment