News
Indian operator to use proceeds from share sale to pay down debt.
Bharti Airtel this week sold a 3.65% stake in its towers business Bharti Infratel, raising 25.7 billion rupees (€343.32 million).
In a statement on Tuesday, the Indian operator said it will use the proceeds to pay down debt. Bharti’s net debt stood at INR878.4 billion (€11.73 billion) at the end of June.
"The allocation was done to global tower company investors, fund managers and long-only funds, including many repeat investors," Bharti Airtel said.
In March, the company offloaded a 10.3% stake in Bharti Infratel to a consortium of funds advised by KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for INR61.93 billion.
That deal came a week after Bharti Airtel transferred a 21.63% directly-held stake in Infratel to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nettle Infrastructure Investments.
Tuesday’s deal reduces Bharti’s position in Infratel to 58% from just under 61.7%.
Earlier in March, Bharti said it planned to maintain a controlling stake in Infratel. If that is still the case, then there won’t be many more transactions in the pipeline.
