Singtel likely to sell 0.8% in Bharti Airtel in ₹10,300 crore deal

Pastel, a promoter group entity owned by Singapore’s Singtel, plans to sell shares of Bharti Airtel worth up to Rs 10,300 crore through block deals on Friday, according to the terms of the transaction.

 

The floor price has been set at Rs 2,030 per share, representing a discount of about 3.1 per cent to Airtel’s Thursday closing price of Rs 2,095. The offer comprises 50 million shares, or around 0.8 per cent of the telecommunications (telecom) company’s equity. JP Morgan India is the sole bookrunner for the deal.

 

Since January, Airtel shares have risen 32 per cent, compared with an 8 per cent gain in the Nifty 50 index.

 

An email sent to Airtel seeking comment did not elicit a response on Thursday.

 

Earlier this year, on May 15, Pastel sold about 1.2 per cent of its stake in Airtel for roughly $1.54 billion. That transaction involved the sale of 71 million shares at Rs 1,814 apiece, reducing Singtel’s stake in Airtel from 29.5 per cent to 28.3 per cent.

 

The latest share sale is part of Singtel’s broader plan to monetise its holdings in Airtel. Despite the stake dilution, Singtel reiterated in May that it remains a long-term strategic investor in Airtel, having partnered the telecom major for over two decades.

 

In an exchange filing in May, the Singapore-headquartered telecom operator had said the sale was part of its active capital management approach to optimise its asset portfolio and drive sustainable shareholder returns. It added that it has been working with Bharti Enterprises to equalise its effective stake in Airtel over the medium term.

 

“This transaction allows us to crystallise value at an attractive valuation while remaining a significant shareholder of Airtel,” Arthur Lang, group chief financial officer of Singtel, had said in May.

 

In August, Indian Continent Investment (ICIL), an entity promoted by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, sold nearly 1 per cent of Airtel for Rs 11,227 crore via block deals. This followed a February transaction in which ICIL offloaded a 0.84 per cent stake — about 51 million shares — worth Rs 8,485 crore (roughly $976 million).

 

Singtel’s previous direct sale was in 2022, when it offloaded a 1.59 per cent stake in Airtel for Rs 7,261 crore through an open-market transaction in November, and another 3.3 per cent stake in August that year for Rs 12,895 crore to Bharti Telecom.