On Tuesday Bharti Infratel said that its major shareholding company Bharti Airtel will reduce its direct stake in the tower company by over 50%. In an exchange filing, Infratel said that the unit of Airtel, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Ltd, will be purchasing up to 32% share in Bharti Infratel Ltd by March 18.

Post the transfer, mobile carrier Airtel will be having 18.3% stake in Infratel as against current shareholding of 50.33%.

Nettle will buy shares of Infratel for up to Rs. 362.45 per share, which is a 13.4% premium in comparison to closing price of Infratel on Monday. Nettle has 3.18% stake already in the telecom tower company Bharti Infratel.

As per an analyst cited in a CNBC TV 18 report, the transfer of stake from Airtel to Nettle Infrastructure means selling of stake to a third-party, which helps the company raise money.

Last week, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd said it will buy Airtel stock worth close to $525 million as the telecommunications major plans to raise capital amounting to $4.6 billion via bonds and shares.

The development sent the shares of Bharti Infratel cracking by as much as 3.4% to Rs. 309.