Bharti Airtel explores options to list Africa arm on global exchange

With Africa turning profitable, Airtel is expecting a better valuation after listing

The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel is considering listing its subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV (BAIN), which controls the group’s African operations, on a stock exchange overseas.

The company has started discussions with banks and intermediaries to evaluate the feasibility of the listing.

“The board of directors of BAIN BV on February 12 has authorised its management to initiate non-binding exploratory discussions with various banks/intermediaries to explore the possibility/feasibility of listing of its shares on an internationally recognised stock exchange,” Bharti Airtel said in regulatory filing. The discussions were of an exploratory nature and there was no certainty over their outcome,