Idea stock up 2.7% on Vodafone merger buzz

CLSA study notes the new entity would be the largest in the segment

The Idea Cellular stock jumped 2.7 per cent on Thursday, following a report by CLSA, the brokerage and investment group, on a potential merger with Vodafone India.

This also revives worry of further battles in the telecom segment, which has seen turmoil after Reliance Jio’s aggressive launch last September. There has been a buzz for a while that Vodafone India is looking for a merger with another company. CLSA says its analysis of a potential merger with Idea suggests such a deal would change the industry order. 

The main points it has made are:

• Given the complementary operational strengths of the