Bharti Airtel To Reduce Direct Stake In Infratel
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.