Bharti Airtel's Rs 21,000-cr rights issue subscribed 1.43 times

Telecom major Bharti Airtel’s Rs 21,000 crore rights issue has garnered full subscription, data provided by stock exchanges on Thursday showed.

The 392-million share offering attracted 1.43 times more bids at 562 million shares. These bids were through the so-called ASBA route. Besides, investors had the option to apply for the rights issue on an online platform using net banking or UPI. Bids under this route couldn’t be immediately ascertained. The rights issue closed on Thursday.

Shares of Airtel on Thursday closed at Rs 697. The rights issue price is fixed at Rs 535, a discount of 23 per cent to the last closing price. Airtel's promoter group-the Mittal family and Singtel— who hold 56 per cent in the company— are said to have participated in the rights issue. They will be required to invest Rs 11,730 crore.

However, Airtel is only collecting 25 per cent payment upfront. The rest of the 75 per cent will be collected over a three-year period in two tranches. Market players said the shares issued under the rights programme will be credited to investors’ accounts by October 27. The securities will be traded separately as partly-paid shares. The trading could commence on October 28.