Bharti Infratel, the tower unit of Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel, has filed a preliminary IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
This is according to a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange, confirming earlier…
Bharti Infratel, the tower unit of Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel, has filed a preliminary IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
This is according to a notice to the Bombay Stock Exchange, confirming earlier speculation.
The company is reportedly looking to raise approximately Rs50bn (US$902.8m) in the floatation of 188 million shares, which would mark the largest listing in India since 2010.
The shares would consist of 142 million newly-issued shares and 46 million shares sold by four private investors in the company.
“The issue constitute a fresh issue of equity shares by Bharti Infratel and an offer for sale portion by Compassvale Investments, GS Strategic Investments, Anadale, and Nomura Asia Investment (IB),” Bharti Airtel confirmed in the notice.
In a separate statement, the operator, which has an 86% stake in Infratel, said it has decided not sell any shares in the towerco.
The IPO itself may start by the end of the year or early next year, according to reports.
In late August, it was rumoured that Bharti Airtel, has shortlisted Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, UBS and Kotak Mahindra for the transaction.
Over the past months, the operator has reportedly been mulling ways to address its high debt load following the acquisition of Zain’s African assets for US$10.7bn in 2010.
According to its website, Infratel operates more than 33,000 towers in India and has a 42% stake in Indian tower joint venture Indus Towers. The other parties in the JV, which has a portfolio of 112,000 towers, are Vodafone India (42%) and Idea Cellular (16%).
