Bharti Airtel arm picks up 6.3% stake in Dhaka-based telcom firm

Deal value not known; Robi is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said its Singapore-based Bharti International has bought an additional 6.3 per cent stake in Bangladesh-based Robi Axiata Ltd.

"Bharti International (Singapore), a step-down subsidiary of the company, has acquired additional 6.3 per cent stake in Robi Axiata Limited (an entity in Bangladesh) from NTT DOCOMO and its group entities," Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing. 

However, did not disclose the amount of acquisition.

Bharti International currently owns 25 per cent share in the Dhaka-headquartered company.

Robi is the second largest mobile network operator in Bangladesh. Robi is a subsidiary Company of Axiata Investments (Labuan) Limited, which is also the subsidiary of the leading Asian telecom giant, Axiata Group Berhad, based in Malaysia.

• 2010: Airtel acquires 70 per cent stake in Warid Telecom of Bangladesh

• 2013: Airtel picks up the remaining 30 per cent stake in Warid Telecom

• 2016: Bharti Airtel and Robi Axiata announce to merge operations in Bangladesh

• Axiata will hold a 68.7% controlling stake in the combined entity

• Bharti Airtel 25% and the rest 6.3% will be held by NTT DoCoMo