Bharti Airtel inches up after entering into tower sale pact with American Tower Corp

Bharti Airtel rose 0.18% to Rs 354.20 at 9:17 IST on BSE after the company said it has entered into a definitive agreement with American Tower Corporation for the sale of about 1,350 of its communications towers in Tanzania.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 March 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 31.29 points or 0.12% at 25,254.08.

On BSE, so far 15,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 4.61 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock hit a high of Rs 356.10 and a low of Rs 353.70 so far during the day.

Bharti Airtel announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with American Tower Corporation through its subsidiary company, Airtel Tanzania, for the sale of approximately 1,350 of its communications towers in Tanzania. Under the agreement, American Tower may acquire up to approximately 100 additional sites currently in development for an additional consideration. Airtel will be the anchor tenant on the portfolio under a lease with a ten-year initial term. The tower sale agreements allow Airtel to focus on its core business and customers, besides helping deleverage through debt reduction, and significantly reducing the on-going capital expenditure on passive infrastructure. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, Bharti Airtel said.

On consolidated basis, Bharti Airtel's net profit declined 22.2% to Rs 1116.90 crore on 3.7% growth in net sales to Rs 24065.90 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014.

Bharti Airtel is one of the leading global telecommunications service providers with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

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