The country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel (Airtel), on Monday announced that Singapore Telecommunications Limited (Singtel), will invest ₹2,649 crore in Bharti Telecom Limited (Bharti Telecom).
Singtel is Asia’s leading communications and ICT solutions group and a long term partner of Airtel, and Bharti Telecom is the promoter company of Airtel through preferential allotment of shares. “The transaction is subject to the shareholders’ approval of Bharti Telecom. The funds raised will be used towards debt reduction,” Airtel said in a statement.
With this investment, Singtel’s total stake (along with its affiliates) in Bharti Telecom will increase to 48.90 per cent. Singtel currently holds 47.17 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom. Bharti Enterprises continues to hold over 50 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom.
“Airtel shares a nearly two decade-long relationship with Singtel, which has only become stronger over the years. The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the increased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation,” Deven Khanna, Managing Director, Bharti Telecom, said.
The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the increased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation, the company said.
The investment comes within 23 months of Singtel's participation in Bharti Telecom’s Right Issue of ₹2,500 core, which was completed in February 2016.