Airtel Might Sell 2.75 % Stake To Become Debt Free: Report

Airtel is likely to sell its 2.75 percent stake to global firms in order to reduce its debt and to infuse more money in the company. The telecom operator is expected to raise $ 1 billion via this stake selling deal.

"Bharti Telecom intends to clean up debt at the promoter level, which will clear the path for it to inject more capital towards shareholder support at Airtel in the near future," sources closed to the development were quoted by Economic Times.

The report states that there are chances Segantii Capital, Fidelity, and Norges Bank might invest in Airtel. The list includes some local investors Birla, such as Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund, and HDFC Mutual Fund. However, there is no confirmation from the company's side about the stake selling deal.

The development comes at that time when Jio is selling its stake to global firms. The company has sold its stake to Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partner, General Atlantic, and KKR. So far, Jio has garnered more than Rs. 78,000 crore by selling its 17 percent stake to become a debt-free company. Notably, Reliance Jio might sell its stake to more companies in the coming days. In fact, Reliance Industries is expected to reduce its holding in Jio platforms to 75 to 80 percent.

Airtel Might Become Zero Debt Company After Selling Its Stake

It is expected that Airtel is likely to become a debt-free company, after selling a 2.75 stake, and it will become profitable in Q3 2021. "Bharti remains a secular story for us, and we expect the company to show continued ARPU improvement and market share gain going forward," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.

The analysts also believe that any stake selling deal will help the operator to manage its debt. Meanwhile, Airtel shares fell by 5 percent on BSE as the company is planning to sell its stake to get $1 billion. It is worth mentioning that recently, Airtel raised $ 3 billion via selling its shares and bonds to buy spectrum and pay license fees.

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