Highlights:
- Bharti Telecom sells 2.75% stake in Bharti Airtel
- This sale raised Rs. 8,433 crore for the firm which it will use to clear debt
Bharti Airtel’s promoter firm, Bharti Telecom has sold 2.75% of its stake to Institutional Investors in the secondary market by which it raised Rs. 8,433 crore or around $ 1.5 billion, the firm said on Tuesday.
The sale was made to raise cash which could be utilised to repay the debt of Bharti Telecom and make the promoter holding firm a “debt-free company,” it said.
It added that both Bharti Group and Singtel will continue to hold the majority stake of Bharti Airtel at 56.23% even after the transaction.
Also Read: River Yamuna Did To Itself In 60 Days What Governments Couldn’t In 25 Years
Announcing the closure of the secondary block placement of Airtel shares, Bharti Telecom said that the issue over-subscribed multi-fold with a healthy mix from all categories of investors, long-only and hedge fund investors across Asia (including India), Europe and the United State of America.
It said, “Bharti Telecom Limited, the promoter company of Bharti Airtel Limited have today sold 2.75 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel to institutional investors through an accelerated book building process in the secondary market,”.
Bharti Telecom has managed to raise over ₹8,433 crores (or around USD 1.15 billion) through the accelerated book-build offering of equity shares of Bharti Airtel, it added.
The 2.75% stake sale was anchored by various existing and new shareholders and numerous marquee global mutual fund complexes, multi-strategy funds, sovereign wealth funds, and domestic institutional investors in big quantities, said the company.
As Bharti Telecom Limited will become a zero debt firm, Bharti Airtel’s credit profile will also see a huge positive impact as it will stand to benefit from the deleveraging on a consolidated basis, which included debt of the promoter holding firm.
The statement said, “Bharti Group and Singtel, as Bharti Airtel’s largest shareholders remain committed to the business and the long term prospects of Bharti Airtel. In the last few years the promoters have invested over ₹21,000 crores (over USD 3 billion) in Bharti Airtel and stay fully committed to investing further in the business as may be required,”.
