Airtel to rejig shareholding structure of overseas arms

The board of telecom major Bharti Airtel today approved rejig of its overseas arms that will now operate under its wholly-owned Mauritius-based subsidiary Network i2i Ltd.
"The resultant 'vertical step by step shareholding structure' envisaged by the above restructuring aims to offer number of benefits, including delayering and simplification of structure and synergies without any change in ultimate ownership over the said subsidiaries," Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing.
Under the approved structure, Airtel's wholly-owned subsidiaries Bharti Airtel International (Mauritius) Ltd (BAIM), Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V. (BAIN), Netherlands and Bharti International (Singapore) Pte Ltd (BISPL), Singapore will be held entirely by Network i2i Ltd (Ni2i), Mauritius, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

BAIN, which manages Africa operations of Airtel, will continue to hold the shareholding in African operating companies, the filing said.
Airtel's investments in its wholly-owned subsidiaries Bharti Airtel (USA) Ltd, Bharti Airtel (Hong Kong) Ltd and Bharti Airtel (UK) Ltd will be held entirely by BISPL.
The company said the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals but expects to complete it on or before March 31, 2017.
Shares of Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 352.8, up 0.18 per cent compared to its previous close, on BSE today.