MAY 20249REC SECURES RS.3,200 CRORE LOAN TO FUND GREEN ENERGY PROJECTSATC TELECOM SELLS ITS ENTIRE STAKE IN VODAFONE-IDEAREC announced on Thursday that it has secured a green loan amounting to JPY 60.536 billion (approximately Rs 3,200 crore) to fund eligible clean energy projects. This green facility benefits from an 80 percent guarantee provided by the Italian export credit agency, SACE (Italy).This announcement comes after REC issued its first yen-denominated green bonds worth 61.1 billion yen in January under its $10-billion global medium-term notes program.Exploring the Japanese market for financing aligns with REC strategy, as interest rates in Japan are gener-ally lower compared to US-dollar-denominated loans. The company has set an ambitious target of achieving a green finance loan book of Rs 3 lakh crore by 2029-30.In September 2023, REC revealed that it had en-gaged in discussions with renewable energy devel-opers, leading to the signing of memoranda of under-standing totaling approximately Rs 2.86 lakh crore. This indicates a significant step towards achieving its green finance objectives. ATC Telecom Infrastructure made a significant move in the telecom sector by selling its entire 2.87 percent stake in Vodafone Idea for Rs 1,840 crore through an open market transaction. As one of the largest infrastructure service providers for Vodafone Idea, this sale marks a notable development in the tele-com landscape.The transaction involved the sale of 144 crore shares of Vodafone Idea by ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Ltd at an average price of Rs 12.78 per share, resulting in a total deal size of Rs 1,840.32 crore. ATC Telecom Infra-structure previously held a 2.87 percent stake in Voda-fone Idea, which it converted from debentures into eq-uities.Additionally, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius acquired over 49.12 crore shares of Vodafone Idea, rep-resenting a 0.98 percent stake, at an average price of Rs 12.70 per share, amounting to a deal value of Rs 623.88 crore. However, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius also sold 98.74 lakh shares of Vodafone Idea at an average price of Rs 13.47 per share, resulting in a deal size of Rs 13.30 crore.While the identity of other buyers of the shares re-mains undisclosed, these transactions underscore the dynamic nature of the telecom sector in India. Vodafone Idea's shares closed at Rs 13.85 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), experiencing a slight decline of 0.36 percent. TOPSTORIES
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