Bharti Airtel will raise $1.26 billion in long-term strategic investment from Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE), the company has announced, saying that it will issue 199.87 million new shares representing 5% stake in the company. QFE will subscribe to the shares at Rs 340 per share, a total of Rs 6796 crores. Airtel's shares on the BSE had closed yesterday at a price of Rs 316.70 per share. This investment comes at a time when Airtel is trying to grow its business in Africa, and strengthen its holdings in South Asia, but one should also keep an eye on potential 4G spectrum auctions in India towards the end of this year, or early next year. In the past couple of weeks, Airtel has announced the acquisition of Warid's business in Uganda, as well as the remaining 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh from Warid. The company reported consolidated revenues of Rs 20,448 crore, up 9.2% year on year, consolidated EBITDA of Rs 6,487 crore, with EBITDA margin at 31.7%. Net profit for the quarter was Rs 509 crore, almost half of the profit reported in the previous quarter. Airtel says that the investment from QEF will "further strengthen the capital structure and provide further flexibility for the Company to deliver on its growth strategy."
