India's Bharti to sell 5% stake to Qatar investor
India's biggest telecoms company Bharti Airtel said it would sell new
shares equivalent to a 5.0-percent stake in itself to a Qatar-based
investor for $1.26 billion.
The investment, Bharti said, will "further strengthen its capital
structure and provide further flexibility to the company to deliver on
its growth strategy".
As part of the agreement, Bharti will issue 199.8 million new shares
at 340 rupees ($6.2) per share, which investor Qatar Foundation
Endowment (QFE) will acquire, the Indian firm said in a statement.
This is a 7.5 percent premium to Bharti's closing price of 316 rupees
on Thursday.
The investment comes at a time when Bharti, like several Indian
telecom companies, is struggling with falling profits due to high
interest costs and intense competition in the country.
Bharti reported Thursday that its net quarterly profit halved in the
first quarter of the calendar year compared with 2012 to 5.08 billion
rupees ($94 million), the 13th straight quarterly fall in its
profitability.
News of the new investment encouraged investors, however, with Bharti
shares rising as much as 4.5 percent to a high of 331 rupees on the
Bombay Stock Exchange, after the news.
"This strategic partnership with QFE demonstrates the confidence they
have in us and our strategy for growth," said Bharti's chairman Sunil
Mittal.
QFE's acting chief executive Rashid Al-Naimi said as a long-term
global investor, the shareholding gave them "exposure to a high growth
sector in key emerging markets".
AFP |