Promoters of Bharti Airtel are set to offload a 0.56% stake in the telecom major on Wednesday through block deals, aiming to raise up to Rs 7,200 crore.
Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), a promoter entity led by billionaire Sunil Mittal, will sell 34.3 million shares at a floor price of Rs 2,096.70 apiece, representing a 3% discount to Tuesday’s closing price of Rs 2,160.75. Following the sale, ICIL’s stake will fall from 1.48% to 0.92%.
Overall promoter holding in Airtel currently stands at 50.27%, while Singapore’s Singtel holds 27.5%.
This is the third such stake sale by ICIL in the past year. In August, the entity sold 0.98% of its stake for Rs 11,227 crore, one of the biggest block deals in domestic markets. Earlier in February, ICIL had sold 0.84% (51 million shares) for Rs 8,485 crore, a quarter of which was picked up by group firm Bharti Telecom.
The series of stake sales has reduced the promoters’ combined holding from 53.11% at the start of the year to the current level.
Goldman Sachs Securities is acting as the placement agent for the latest transaction. Bharti Airtel and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to queries. Airtel’s stock closed 0.44% higher on Tuesday and has risen 36% so far this year.
The planned sale also comes as Mittal is in talks—alongside private equity firm Warburg Pincus—to acquire a 49% stake in Haier India, the local unit of China’s consumer appliances giant. Discussions are ongoing around the valuation being sought by Haier.