Bharti Airtel’s promoter entity Indian Continent Investment (ICIL) will sell 34.3 million equity shares, representing a 0.56% stake, in Bharti Airtel for Rs 7,195 crore on Wednesday via a block deal. The move is aimed at diversifying the telco’s shareholder base.
ICIL, a promoter entity of Sunil Bharti Mittal family office, will sell shares on the stock exchanges at a floor price of Rs 2,096.70 per share, a 3% discount to Bharti Airtel’s closing price of Rs 2,161.60 on the NSE on Tuesday, according to a term sheet.
Who’s handling the transaction?
The transaction is being handled by Goldman Sachs (India) Securities as the sole placement agent.
Following the sale, ICIL’s stake is expected to fall below 1%, from about 1.48% as of September 2025. Following the sale, ICIL’s residual stake will be placed under a 90-day lock-up period, restricting any further equity sales during that period.
Since the sale is wholly secondary, it does not involve new equity, and the proceeds will be received by the shareholders divesting their stake.
The first wave of promoter-level monetisation was seen through a major block trade from Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) earlier in November. Through its investment arm Pastel, Singtel offloaded around 47.6 million Airtel shares, a transaction valued at roughly ₹8,568 crore. The sale was part of Singtel’s ongoing capital-recycling strategy, under which it has been trimming mature holdings to fund expansion in digital services and regional data-centre assets.
Trade to give stock liquidity boost
The ICIL trade would give the stock another liquidity boost. Together, the sequential sales reflect a broader reshuffling among long-term shareholders, rather than a shift in the sentiment on Airtel’s fundamentals. The transactions have increased the stock’s free float, a development watched closely by large global investors and index-tracking funds.
This is backed by the telco reporting a healthy set of quarterly earnings, driven by stronger operating performance and continued growth in premium subscribers.
Airtel reported a strong financial performance for the September quarter, posting a consolidated net profit of ₹6,792 crore, an improvement of around 14% over the preceding quarter. Revenue rose to ₹52,145 crore, supported by continued expansion in 4G and 5G adoption, stable pricing and a robust growth in its home broadband segment.
Airtel’s focus is on retaining and upgrading quality subscribers, rather than chasing low-ARPU additions, which has helped protect profitability in a competitive but rational market.
Beyond mobile services, Airtel has a significant presence in the enterprise market, where it delivers cloud, data centre and communication-platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) solutions to corporate clients.
