Bharti Infratel defers board meeting on Indus Tower merger; stock tanks 10%

The Board meeting has been rescheduled for a later date but will be held on or before the current long stop date of 24th June 2020, the company said.

Shares of Bharti Infratel slipped 10 per cent to Rs 210 on the BSE on Thursday after the board deferred meeting pertaining to decision on the merger with Indus Towers as certain details it sought were delayed.

“Certain inputs that would have been required by the Board for it to deliberate and take a final decision have been delayed given the current environment. In view of the same, the said Board meeting has been rescheduled for a later date but definitely on or before the current long stop date of 24th June 2020," Bharti Infratel said in an exchange filing. READ HERE

The stock has seen a strong run-up in the past one-and-half months, and has rallied 53 per cent since April 24, as compared to 9.3 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex till Wednesday.

On 24 April, Bharti Infratel had said that its board took note of the status of scheme of arrangement between Indus and Bharti Infratel and further extended the long stop date till June 24, 2020, subject to agreement on closing adjustments and other conditions precedent for closing, with each party retaining the right to terminate and withdraw the scheme.

Bharti Infratel is India’s leading provider of passive telecom infrastructure and it deploys, owns and manages telecom towers and communication structures for various mobile operators.

The company’s consolidated portfolio of over 95,000 telecom towers, which includes over 42,000 of its own towers and the balance from its 42 per cent equity interest in Indus Towers, makes it one of the largest tower infrastructure providers in the country with presence in all 22 telecom circles.

At 02:52 pm, Bharti Infratel was trading 8 per cent lower at Rs 214 on the BSE, as against 1.9 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter more than doubled with a combined 19.7 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.