Bharti Airtel inches up on acquiring stake in Bharti Telemedia

Bharti Airtel rose 0.46% to Rs 596.80 after the company said that it will acquire a Warburg Pincus affiliate's 20% equity stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for a total consideration of approximately Rs 3,126 crore.

The telecom company's board has approved the issuance of upto 3.64 crore equity shares of the company at Rs 600 per share; and up to Rs 1037.80 crore in cash.

The proposed transaction is part of Airtel's strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group. A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia would allow Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers so as to promote One Home strategy.

Airtel will issue its shares to the Warburg Pincus affiliate at a premium of about 0.50% to the floor price determined as per ICDR regulations. The remaining consideration of Rs 937.80 crore shall be paid in cash on the closing date of the proposed transaction. There may also be minor customary closing adjustments not exceeding Rs 100 crore, Bharti Airtel said.

It may be recalled that in December 2017, a Warburg Pincus affiliate, agreed to acquire 20% equity stake in Bharti Telemedia, the DTH arm of Airtel.

Harjeet Kohli, Group Director, Bharti Enterprises said that DTH is an integral part of the company's Homes strategy and this transaction is another step towards simplifying the shareholding of customer facing businesses providing structural flexibility and ease of implementation.

Bharti Airtel is a global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa.

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