Bharti Telecom may raise equity from promoter group and Singtel

NEW DELHI: Bharti Telecom Ltd., the promoter of mobile phone company Bharti Airtel, may raise equity from its current promoter group - which may include its overseas entities - and SingTel in proportion to their holdings to retire debt, a move which may increase the foreign stake to beyond 50%.“Even a marginal increase in foreign equity would take the foreign investment in Bharti Telecom above 50%, making it a foreign-owned entity. Once that happens, Bharti Telecom' s entire stake in Bharti Airtel Limited will automatically be considered as Foreign Investment,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement to the stock exchanges Thursday.This statement was in response to a news item titled "Singtel to raise holding in Bharti Telecom beyond 50%" published in Thursday’s edition of ET.At present, Bharti Telecom’s 41% equity stake in Bharti Airtel is classified as ‘domestic’ shareholding as it is majority-owned (52%) by the Sunil Mittal-owned entities, including some overseas ones with Singtel currently owning 48%.If Bharti Telecom becomes a foreign entity, overseas ownership in Bharti Airtel will rise to over 85%.To make proposed changes compliant with FDI norms, Bharti Airtel has sought government nod to increase foreign shareholding to 100%.“Bharti Airtel is committed to be compliant with regulatory regime for foreign investment and accordingly has applied for Foreign Investment for 100% to keep further headroom for FII / FPI investments as well,” the company said.Airtel shares closed 1.8% higher at Rs 372.20 on the BSE on Thursday.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/31ynSPD