Bharti Airtel has acquired Vodafone UK’s 4.7% stake in the Indus Towers. Airtel’s subsidiary company, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Limited, has acquired 127,105,179 equity shares (4.7%) of Indus Towers from Vodafone Group Plc for Rs 2,388 crore. The agreement took place at Rs 187.88 per share, and Airtel’s subsidiary company purchased these shares from Euro Pacific Securities, a subsidiary of Vodafone UK.
This acquisition has catapulted Airtel’s stock into the green at the time of writing. Bharti Airtel made the announcement of the acquisition by a listing on the stock exchanges.
Bharti Airtel Stake in Indus Towers Rises to 46.43%
Following the acquisition, Airtel’s stake in Indus Towers has risen to 46.43%. Before the purchase, Airtel had close to a 42% stake in the company. It will be interesting to see whether Airtel would go for more stake in the tower company in the future for offering stability.
It is worth noting that Vodafone Group Plc is also planning to sell its remaining stake in Indus Towers.
For the unaware, with the proceeds that have been generated following the acquisition, Vodafone Group will have to use some part of it to clear Vodafone Idea’s (Vi) dues with Indus Towers and then infuse the remaining money as fresh capital into Vi. This was the condition that Airtel had placed in front of Vodafone UK for purchasing its stake.
This is going to help the Indian telecom sector in general. Vi’s dues will be partly lowered, and it will be able to get fresh capital. While at the same time, Airtel’s stake in Indus Towers will go up significantly. Airtel has continuously been making acquisitions and also repaying debt before maturity to save money in interests.
Bharti Airtel is in a strong position considering it will benefit from the growing demand for enterprise, 5G, and broadband services. Vi’s stressed balanced sheet is going to help Airtel further. Vodafone Group will be looking to sell the remaining stake in Indus Towers and might use the money to infuse in Vi.
