Bharti Airtel to dilute stakes in African unit

Bharti Airtel will be raising close to US$1.25 billion by selling stakes in its African business.

The new shares will be bought by Temasek, Singtel, Softbank Group International, Warbug Pincus and two more investors. The proceeds from the sale are expected to be used to reduce the debt levels of the company.   Post-dilution Bharti Airtel will be holding 65 per cent stake in the African business while 35 per cent will be held by new investors. According to the company, its African business is valued at US$4.4 billion.  
 
On Wednesday, the shares of the company opened slightly higher at Rs. 287.50 per share against Tuesday’s close of Rs 285.90 on the BSE. At 14:50 hours, the share was trading at Rs. 304.55, up by 6.52 per cent. The intraday high was Rs. 304.90 and intraday low was Rs. 606.10286.90 per share on the BSE. Its 52-week high was Rs. 565 and 52-week low was Rs. 277 per share on the BSE. While Sensex was at 33,866.40 level, up by 0.06 per cent.