Is Vodafone's search for an Indian partner finally over?

Even three-four years ago, Vodafone was quite interested in merging with an Indian company

Vodafone Plc’s admission that it is in discussions with Aditya Birla’s group about an all-share merger of Vodafone India and Idea, on Monday, doesn’t come as a surprise to investment bankers.

Three years back, when an investment banker went to London to pitch for the company’s initial public offering (IPO), he had prepared a small note on how Vodafone can create value, improve spectrum efficiency and increase valuation by around 25% through a merger with one of the four existing entities – Bharti Airtel, RCom, Aircel and Idea.

“While we had created a small presentation on Indian companies that Vodafone