Bharti Airtel has transferred its entire 69.94 percent stake in Airtel Payments Bank to a wholly owned subsidiary, Airtel Limited, as part of an internal shareholding restructuring exercise, according to Bharti Airtel's exchange filing.
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Bharti Airtel's Stake Transfer
"...the shareholding of 69.94 percent, held by Bharti Airtel Limited (the Company) in Airtel Payments Bank Limited (Bank), is being transferred to Company's wholly owned subsidiary (i.e. Airtel Limited), post receiving requisite regulatory and corporate approvals. The above is an internal re-organisation of shareholding in Bank and has no impact on the ownership of the Bank," Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
"This is an internal re-organisation of shareholding and has no impact on the ownership of the Bank. The requisite regulatory and corporate approvals in this regard, have been received by the Company," Airtel added.
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Airtel said the transfer of shareholding falls within the purview of related party transactions and will be done at an arm's length.
Airtel Payments Bank, which began operations in 2017, reported a net profit of Rs 18.5 crore on revenue of approximately Rs 700 crore in the December quarter. Airtel Payments Bank reported a revenue of Rs 165.1 crore in FY24 and its net worth stood at Rs 503.8 crore. Bharti Airtel's revenue in the same period was Rs 1,49,982.4 crore and a net worth of Rs 80,056.1 crore.
According to previous reports, Airtel may go public with an initial public offering (IPO) for the payments bank in the next few years as part of a regulatory mandate. More details can be found in the linked story.
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"We have some mandate; we have been net worth positive for some time. So, over the next couple of years, we should potentially see an IPO in the payments bank," ET Telecom reported, quoting an official.
