Singtel To Increase Stake In Bharti Airtel By 1%

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. will be buying an additional 1.7 percent stake in Bharti Telecom Ltd., promoter company of Bharti Airtel Ltd., for Rs 2,649 crore. Bharti Telecom will be issuing 8.54 crore equity shares to Singtel at Rs 310 each on preferential basis.

Post the fund infusion by Singapore Telecom or Singtel, its ownership will increase to 48.9 percent in Bharti Telecom. This will indirectly increase Singtel's stake in Bharti Airtel.

Bharti Telecom owns nearly 50.1 percent stake in India's largest telecom operator. The funds raised will be used by Bharti Telecom to reduce its debt.

Singtel's current fund infusion values Bharti Telecom at Rs 1,55,821 crore, while its stake 50.1 percent stake in listed Bharti Airtel is valued at Rs 84,474 crore. Bharti Enterprises, the Sunil Bharti Mittal-owned company, owns more than 50 percent stake in Bharti Telecom.

This will be Singtel's second investment in Bharti Telecom in less than two years. Earlier in 2016, it had participated in a rights issue of Rs 2,500 crore. The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the increased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation, Bharti Airtel said in a release.

Shares of the country's largest telecom company rose as much as 5 percent, the most in nearly a month, to Rs 443 on the NSE in early trading.

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