NEW DELHI: Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel’s promoters, Bharti Telecom, increased their stake in the market leader by 4.62 per cent, crossing the 50 per cent mark.
According to a statement from Airtel, Bharti Telecom acquired over 184.7 million shares from Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), another promoter firm of Airtel. “...the company has received a communication dated November 3, 2017, from Bharti Telecom, the promoter of the company that it has acquired 184,710,183 equity shares of the company from Indian Continent Investment,” Bharti Airtel said.
The shares, which have been acquired at a price of ?435.37 per share derived with weighted average market price for 60 days, represent 4.62 per cent of the paid-up share capital of the company “Consequent to the aforesaid acquisition, the shareholding of Bharti Telecom in the company has increased from 45.48 per cent to 50.10 per cent,” it said. ICIL’s stake will come down to 2.03 per cent from its earlier 6.65 per cent.
The deal will entail a significant transfer of capital. According to the statement, the deal will be worth around ?10,052 crore.
MITTAL’S GAME PLAN
The Mittal family is the promoter of both Bharti Telecom and Bharti Airtel Ltd. The Mittals own 51%of Bharti Telecom and an effective shareholding of around 30% in Airtel.
Post this deal, their shareholding in Bharti Airtel will increase, but the largest shareholder in the telecom operator will continue to be Singapore Telecommunications, which has a 36.2% stake in the company