| Private equity firm Warburg Pincus today sold a 3.2 per cent stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures for $306 million (over Rs 1,300 crore). | |
| The block sale, India's largest on record and the second in six months by Warburg in Bharti, was done at a 2.4 per cent discount to the Bharti closing share price on Tuesday. | |
| The news initially pushed down Bharti shares 2.9 per cent, but the stock recovered later after the government lifted the cap for foreign investment in the industry. | |
| "Warburg has sold approximately 3 per cent or 61-62 million shares," Akhil Gupta, joint managing director of Bharti, said. | |
| The sale to a clutch of foreign funds means a big profit for Warburg, which still owns about 12 per cent, bankers familiar with the transaction said. Warburg officials declined comment. | |
| Since its listing in January 2002, the Bharti stock has jumped some seven-fold. In August, Warburg sold a 3.35 per cent stake for $208 million. | |
| In Wednesday's sale, trade details from the Bombay exchange in the morning showed two block deals for 55 million shares, or about 2.9 per cent of Bharti, changed hands in opening deals. | |
| Ravi Kapoor, executive vice-president of DSP Merrill Lynch, which executed the deal with the Indian unit of Morgan Stanley, said the combined value of the sales set an Indian market record. | |
| Later, there were more deals, taking the total to some 62 million shares at an average price of Rs 217 a share. Bharti shares ended down 1.5 per cent at Rs 219.05 on a weaker Bombay market.
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