Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has acquired 4.7% stake in Indus Towers from Vodafone Group for about Rs 2,388 crore. The transaction was executed at a price of Rs 187.88 per share.
“…the company, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Limited, has acquired 127,105,179 equity shares (4.7%) of Indus Towers Limited @ Rs 187.88 per share from Euro Pacific Securities, an affiliate of Vodafone Group Plc,” Airtel said in a regulatory filing.
After the acquisition, Bharti Airtel’s shareholding in Indus Towers has increased to over 46%, while that of Vodafone has dropped to 21%.
On February 25, Bharti Airtel had said it has signed an agreement to buy Vodafone’s 4.7% stake in Indus Towers on the condition that the proceeds will be used for investment in Vodafone Idea and clearing its dues towards the mobile tower company.
Indus Towers is the country’s largest tower infrastructure provider with a portfolio of over 1,84,748 telecom towers across all the 22 telecom circles. It posted a net profit of Rs 1,571 crore during the October-December quarter, which was up 16% on a year-on-year basis.
“We believe this transaction allows Airtel to secure continued strong provision of services from Indus Towers, protects and enhances Airtel’s value in Indus Towers, enables it to receive rich dividends and as also paves the way for subsequent financial consolidation of Indus Towers in Airtel,” Bharti had earlier said about the deal.
It had said it remains committed to look at opportunities for monetising this vital asset at an appropriate time. In doing so, it will ensure that the tower company has been stabilised and any new strategic or financial investor/s has the ability to continue to serve the critical needs of Airtel,” it had said.
