Bharti Airtel says promoters’ stake to come down post rights issue

The promoter group’s stake in Bharti Airtel will come down to around 62% from the current 67% after the completion of the Rs 25,000-crore rights issue which the telecom firm has announced. This is because the promoter group has renounced its right for shares worth Rs 5,000 crore (around 5%) in favour of the Singapore government’s investing arm GIC which will be investing this amount.

The promoter group comprising, Bharti Group, Bharti Telecom and Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) will subscribe to Rs 11,785.7 crore. Of this, Singtel will invest Rs 3,750 crore, the company said in a separate statement, representing its rights entitlement for its direct stake of 15%. Bharti Telecom will renounce its right for shares worth Rs 5,000 crore in favour of GIC, Singtel added. This renunciation is from the stake held by Singtel. As a result, post the issue, Singtel’s effective stake in Bharti Airtel will come down to be 35.2%, from the current 39%, but it will still remain the single-largest shareholder in Bharti Airtel.