Bharti Airtel announced it has sold a 10.3 percent stake in its towers arm Infratel to investors KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for INR 61.93 billion (USD 952 million). The sale was concluded at a share price of USD 325, a small premium to Infratel's price before the announcement. Bharti Airtel will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt. Following the closure of this transaction, Bharti Airtel’s equity holding in Infratel stands at 61.7 percent.
Bharti Airtel said last October that it was considering selling its controlling stake in the towers operator. Earlier this month the company transferred part of its stake to its subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments and said it was not yet ready to monetise the entire holding.
In addition to over 38,000 towers under its own operation, Infratel has a 42 percent stake in Indus Towers, another Indian tower operator set up as a joint venture with Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.
