Franklin, ICICI Pru, SBI & HDFC MFs invest in Airtel rights issue

Four bigticket fund houses, including Franklin Templeton MF, ICICI Prudential MF, SBI MF and HDFC MF, are among those that have bid for Bharti Airtel’s about Rs 25,000-crore rights issue, bankers involved in the process said, which the telecom operator will use to bolster its balance sheet to fight rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea.

“The issue was subscribed 1.07 times,” said a banker familiar with the issue details.

Bharti Airtel declined to comment.

Late Friday, the mobile phone operator had said, “Based on preliminary information received, the rights issue has been over-subscribed.” The country’s No 2 telecom carrier did not, however, provide specific details. The rights issue was priced at Rs 220 apiece.