Bharti Airtel today said that it has completed (pdf) the sale of 10.3% stake in tower asset firm Bharti Infratel worth ~$951.6 million (Rs 6,193.9 crore). The buyers include a consortium of funds advised by private equity firm KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The transaction was completed as a “secondary sale of over 190 million shares” from Bharti Infratel at a price of Rs 325 per share. Airtel will primarily use the proceeds from the stake sale for cutting its debt. Bharti Airtel now owns a controlling stake of 61.7% in Bharti Infratel. The stake sale comes after Airtel decided that it won’t be selling a controlling stake in Bharti Infratel as announced in October last year. Airtel’s board instead approved to free up 400 million equity shares in Bharti Infratel to potential investors. Note that a Mint report in December last year said that asset management company Brookfield submitted the highest bid for 51% stake in Airtel, although the sale may have been nullified after the board’s decision. The current stake sale also comes at a time when the Indian telecom industry has turned fiercely competitive with smaller telcos either looking for an exit or merging with their bigger counterparts. Airtel, Idea and Vodafone have also lost a considerable number of subscribers after the launch of Reliance Jio which is currently offering free calls and data. Tower Sale in Africa to cut debt Note that Bharti Airtel had completed a number of deals with multiple buyers, primarily…
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