Vodafone India, Idea tipped to finalise merger in weeks

 India’s number two and three mobile operators by subscribers – Vodafone India and Idea Cellular – are expected to finalise a merger in weeks, which would create the country’s largest player with a 38 per cent market share.

Sources told The Economic Times (ET) the two operators are almost ready to sign a deal, which should not take more than a month, but they could announce a definitive agreement by the end of the week.

Vodafone Group brought in its ex-India chief Marten Pieters to work on a deal. Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao is also expected to brief the operator’s business heads in India about the merger on a conference call next week, ET reported.In late January Vodafone Group confirmed it was in talks to merge its Indian business with Idea.