Bharti Infratel, the telecom tower arm of cellco Bharti Airtel, is looking to list a 10% stake in itself, which would allow it to raise up to Rs45bn (US$1bn), according to the Economic Times. This IPO, which may take place this autumn, is reportedly…
Bharti Infratel, the telecom tower arm of cellco Bharti Airtel, is looking to list a 10% stake in itself, which would allow it to raise up to Rs45bn (US$1bn), according to the Economic Times.
This IPO, which may take place this autumn, is reportedly aimed at providing an exit to shareholders. In February 2008, US private equity firm KKR invested US$250m in Infratel in return for a 2% stake.
Before that, in December 2007, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Goldman Sachs, Macquarie, AIF Capital, Citigroup and India Equity Partners (IEP) had invested US$1bn for a 9% stake in Infratel.
The Economic Times wrote that Bharti Infratel has informally hired Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley for the IPO, while two other banks may also have been appointed.
Back in January last year, Bharti Enterprises CFO Manik Jhangiani told investors that it was considering listing Infratel but emphasised that there were no definite plans. However, in April 2011, Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO and managing director of Bharti Enterprises, said that Bharti Airtel would not list the tower unit in the immediate future.
He reportedly added, at that time that Indus Towers, a JV between Infratel (42%), Vodafone Essar, and Idea Cellular, would not be listed soon either. Indus is the leading tower company with about 100,000 towers.
