Bharti Airtel raises Rs 1,925 cr from stake sale in tower unit

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has raised Rs 1,925 crore (about USD 310 million) by selling nearly 3 per cent stake in its tower unit - Bharti Infratel.
After divesting 55 million shares, the company's equity holding in Bharti Infratel has come down to 71.9 per cent from 74.85 per cent at the end of December 2014.
The proceeds will be primarily used to reduce debt.
"An overall demand of USD 440 million (1.42 times of base deal size) across the US, Europe and Asia was seen. The allocation was at Rs 350 per share -- a discount of 3.7 per cent to last 30 day average closing price," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

"The allocation was done to global tower company investors, fund managers and long-only (long-term) funds, including many repeat investors," it said.
Bharti Infratel shares closed 0.94 per cent down at Rs 367.30 apiece on the BSE.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel stocks closed marginally higher by 0.47 per cent at Rs 349.45 per scrip on the bourse.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and UBS were brokers to the transaction.
According to sources, the operator is raising the amount as it prepares for the upcoming spectrum auction, scheduled to start from March 4.
Bharti Airtel has deposited Rs 4,336 crore as the earnest money, which is the second highest after Reliance Jio Infocomm Rs 4,500 crore.

The government expects to raise over Rs 1 lakh crore from the spectrum auction.