Airtel to buy back 20% stake in Bharti Telemedia from Warburg Pincus for ₹3,126 cr

The Warburg Pincus affiliate had acquired 20% equity stake in Bharti Telemedia in 2018.

A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia will now allow Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers and promote “One Home” strategy. (REUTERS)

Bharti Airtel has announced that they are going to buy back 20% stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus for about ₹3,126 crore.

The Warburg Pincus affiliate had acquired 20% equity stake in Bharti Telemedia, in 2018 after the announcement of the deal in December 2017.

The transaction will be discharged primarily via issuance of about 3.64 crore equity shares of Airtel at a price of ₹600 per share and and up to ₹1,037.8 crore in cash, Bharti Airtel said in a statement. 

The proposed transaction is part of Airtel's strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group. 

A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia will now allow Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers and promote “One Home” strategy.

“DTH is an integral part of our Homes strategy and this transaction is another step towards simplifying the shareholding of our customer facing businesses providing structural flexibility and ease of implementation," Harjeet Kohli, Group Director, Bharti Enterprises said.

Airtel has always enjoyed a close and strategic partnership with Warburg Pincus, across its business verticals and geographies and we are delighted to have them back as part of Airtel's exciting journey ahead, including in digital businesses," Kohli added. 

Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited (“Citi”) acted as the financial advisor to Airtel and Credit Suisse Securities (India) Private Limited acted as advisors to Warburg Pincus in connection with this transaction.