Bharti Telecom picks up additional stake worth Rs 8,301 crore in Bharti Airtel

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel promoter firm Bharti Telecom on Friday bought an additional 1.35 percent stake in the country's second-largest telecom services provider for Rs 8,301 crore through an open market transaction.

Bharti Telecom, which is co-owned by Sunil Bharti Mittal family and Singapore-based Singtel, had a 38.35 percent stake in Bharti Airtel as of September 30.

With this transaction, Bharti Telecom's direct stake in Bharti Airtel will reach 39.7 percent from the 38.35 percent stake it held before the current transaction.

The company has acquired the stake from promoter group entity Indian Continent Investment Ltd, which held a 5.93 percent stake in Bharti Airtel as of September 30, 2023.

According to sources, Singapore-based Singtel held a 50.56 percent stake in Bharti Telecom, and the Mittal family had a 49.44 percent as of September 30, 2022.

According to the block deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bharti Telecom purchased more than 8.11 crore shares, amounting to a 1.35 percent stake in Bharti Airtel.

The shares were acquired at an average price of Rs 1,023 apiece, taking the aggregate transaction value to Rs 8,301.73 crore.

In September last year, Singtel entities -- Viridian and Pastel -- jointly offloaded a 1.76 percent stake in Bharti Airtel for about Rs 7,128 crore.

However, Bharti Airtel's promoter Bharti Telecom has bought a 1.63 percent stake from Singtel entity Pastel Ltd for Rs 6,602 crore through an open market transaction.

After last year's transaction, Singtel Group owned an effective stake of 29.7 percent, comprising a 19.2 percent indirect stake through Bharti Telecom and a 10.5 percent direct stake.

On Friday, shares of Bharti Airtel fell 0.27 percent to close at Rs 1,012 apiece on the NSE.

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