Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it will acquire 20% stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia from an affiliate of Warburg Pincus for about Rs 3,126 crore. The Warburg Pincus affiliate had acquired 20% stake in Bharti Telemedia in 2018 after the announcement of the deal in December 2017. The transaction will be discharged primarily via issuance of about 3.64 crore equity shares of Bharti Airtel at a price of `600 per share and up to Rs 1,037.8 crore in cash, the company said in a statement.
The proposed transaction is part of Airtel’s strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group. A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia allows Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers so as to promote “One Home” strategy, the company said.
Warburg Pincus, which had completely exited from Bharti Airtel in 2005, had returned to the company in December 2017 when it had agreed to buy a 20% stake in Bharti Telemedia for $350 million.
Bharti Airtel’s board of directors on Wednesday also decided to constitute a special committee of directors to consider and evaluate in detail, various options (or combination thereof) for re-organisation of businesses and shareholding structure of the company and its various subsidiaries to achieve required flexibility and sharper focus on digital and non-telecom businesses of the company to enable any unlocking of enhanced value for its stakeholders.
The special committee shall place its suitable recommendations to the board for consideration and/or approval, the company said.