Airtel eyes large stake sale in Indus Towers-Bharti Infratel

Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal said the telco will look to sell a sizeable stake in the Indus Towers-Bharti Infratel combined entity. The merger is expected in March-April. On fund-raising plans, Mittal told a channel that Airtel plans a combination of a rights issue and preferred allotment, adding that a shareholders’ meeting is coming up. Further, he said the Airtel fibre company demerger is likely to conclude by March, following which it will invite other fibre companies to partner with it, much like what Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular did with Indus Towers on the tower’s front.