Airtel gets FDI nod to offload 20% stake in DTH unit to Warburg Pincus

Bharti Airtel has received FDI clearance from the government for sale of 20 per cent stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia to Warburg Pincus for $350 million, a source said.

The source privy to the development said that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approval has been received for the deal, which was announced in December 2017.

When contacted, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

According to the contours of the deal announced in late 2017, Bharti Airtel will sell its 15 per cent stake in direct-to-home arm, and the balance will be sold by another Bharti entity, which holds 5 per cent stake in the company.

The approval comes at a time when competition in the market is heating up -- Reliance Jio has already announced it will offer a Set Top Box for TV when it launches ultra-high speed fibre-based broadband services.

Market watchers have said that Jio's aggressive offerings will pose a "serious competition" to TV distributors on both the DTH and cable side, putting further pressure on falling average revenue per user.