Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) parents Vodafone Group and Hutchison Whampoa have agreed to invest as much as A$2bn (US$2.08bn) into their Australian JV, according to a media report. The cash could be partially used to repay A$1.3bn (US$1.4bn) of debt…
Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) parents Vodafone Group and Hutchison Whampoa have agreed to invest as much as A$2bn (US$2.08bn) into their Australian JV, according to a media report. The cash could be partially used to repay A$1.3bn (US$1.4bn) of debt maturing in mid 2013, and for network modernisation.
The investment would also likely dampen recurring rumours that VHA could exit the market or that the parents could sell the business.
Local business paper AFR said in the unsourced report that the owners gave the green light for the turnaround plan presented by VHA CEO Bill Morrow at a recent board meeting in Hong Kong.
Different ways of funding are still on the table, including loans backed by Hutchison and Vodafone or equity.
VHA is an unlisted 50-50 joint venture between Vodafone and Hutchison, created in 2009. Over the past 20 months VHA has lost 700,000 subscribers and A$600m (US$624m), the report stated, referring to network problems of the operator.
Bill Morrow took over as CEO of VHA earlier in the year. The company recently announced job cuts and other measures to reduce operating costs.
Vodafone Group refused to comment.
