Bharti Airtel could raise another $3.5 billion from stake sale: Moody's

Bharti Airtel could raise another $3.5 billion from the sale of a significant stake in the Indus Towers- Bharti Infratel entity (soon to be merged), said Moody’s. Coupled with the recent rights issue and the initial public offering of its Africa business, Moody’s felt this would help bring its debt-to-Ebitda, or leverage, ratio below 3.5 times by March 2020.

“We expect Bharti to ultimately sell a significant stake in the tower company formed from the merger of Infratel and Indus Tower Limited, although it may retain a minority stake,” ratings agency Moody’s said adding that it was a hypothetical scenario and should not be interpreted as predictive of an outcome. 

Following an eventual tower asset sale and the dilution of its stake in Airtel Africa, Bharti will rely more heavily on organic cash flow from the Indian operations to meet ensure adequate financial flexibility going forward.