Bharti Airtel’s Mauritius-based arm, Network i2i, has sold its 2.3% stake in Helios Towers for £36.9 million (Rs 347.5 crore approx), and the deal proceeds are likely to be used to cut the telco’s debt further.
Network i2i has sold 23.1 million shares in Helios Towers at £1.6 per unit, amounting to a 2.3% stake in the UK tower company.
At press time, Bharti Airtel did not respond to ET’s query. People aware of the matter though said the Helios stake sale proceeds would be used to retire Airtel’s debt.
Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net debt excluding lease obligations stood at Rs 88,251 crore in the quarter ended March.
Citigroup Global Markets and BofA Securities were reportedly the joint bookrunners in relation to the offering.
The latest stake sale by a Bharti Airtel arm also comes on the heels of Bharti Telecom, the promoter company of Bharti Airtel, raising Rs 8,433 crore ($1.15 billion) last month by selling a 2.75% stake in the telco to multiple global investors such as Blackrock, Seganti Capital, Norges Bank and Key Square Capital, besides local fund houses such as HDFC Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund.
Back in February, Bharti Airtel had raised another $250 million (Rs 1,800 crore) via its Mauritius arm through a perpetual bonds issue that had received interest worth over $1.5 billion from investors such as Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, ValuePartners and UBS amongst others. Prior to that, it had raised $750 million (roughly Rs 5,400 crore) through Network i2i.
Source: Economic Times