Bharti drops issue plan

A TALE OF TWO ADRS

Mobile service provider Bharti Tele-Ventures today said it had dropped its 200 million shares-sponsored American Depository Receipts (ADR) issue owing to a lack of sponsorship interest by most of its principal shareholders.

Company executives said some financial investors had last year expressed interest in the sponsored ADR as the stock markets were not doing well.

"In the present scenario, with the markets looking up, they decided against participating in the ADR. The sponsored ADR was not aimed at raising funds," said an executive.

Bharti Tele-ventures had announced plans for its second sponsored ADR in July 2004. Though no date had been fixed, the issue was repeatedly delayed and the company had maintained that the process was under way.

In a sponsored ADR issue, the domestic shareholders tender their shares to overseas investors so that these can be converted into ADRs.

The company also informed the National Stock Exchange that Singapore Telecom (SingTel) had invested $ 252 million to raise its beneficial interest in Bharti Tele-Ventures from 28.16 per cent to 30.84 per cent.