Bharti Airtel, Vodafone To Transfer Entire Stake In Joint Venture To iBus Network

Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Vodafone Idea Ltd. signed a share purchase agreement with iBus Network and Infrastructure Pvt. on Monday to transfer their entire stake in joint venture Firefly Networks Ltd.

The telecom providers hold a 50% stake each in Firefly that will transfer to iBus Network for a cash consideration of Rs 4.5 crore each, according to exchange filings.

The transfer is expected to be completed within 30 business days and after the completion of the transaction, Firefly will no longer be a joint venture of the companies. The transaction does not fall under the purview of related-party transactions and is subject to completion of closing conditions, the filing stated.

In the last financial year, Firefly posted a consolidated loss of Rs 5.5 crore.

On Jan. 2, Airtel informed the exchanges that it would buy a 26% stake in AMP Energy Green Three Pvt. for nearly Rs 38 crore. It will obtain 3.79 crore equity shares, or a 26% stake, in the special purpose vehicle.

In the second quarter of the current financial year, Airtel's revenue rose 8% to Rs 41,473.3 crore. Its consolidated net profit fell 12% to 4,153 crore during the July–September period, missing analysts' estimates.

Shares of Airtel closed 0.65% lower at Rs 1,588 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, compared to a 1.62% fall in the benchmark Nifty. The share price has fallen 51.42% in the last 12 months. The announcement was made after market hours.

Twenty-nine out of the 35 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock, four recommend 'hold' and two suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analysts' price targets implies a potential upside of 13.9%.