Airtel rises on Singtel investment; shares up nearly 2% on BSE Sensex

Asian telecommunications operator, Singtel will be investing Rs 2,649 crore in Airtel and increasing its total stake in the Indian operator.

Representational image. Image Source: Airtel/ Youtube

Shortly after announcing investment flow by a leading communications provider, shares of Bharti Airtel cheered on BSE Sensex during the early trade session on Monday. Shares of the company rose over 1% on BSE Sensex.

At 0942 hours, Airtel shares were up 6.15 points or 1.46% to trade at Rs 427.95 apiece on BSE Sensex.

The company, on Monday, announced that Singapore Telecommunications Limited or otherwise known as Singtel will invest Rs 2649 crore in Bharti Telecom Limited.

Singtel has been one of Airtel’s long term partner and with this investment, Singtel’s total stake (along with its affiliates) in Bharti Telecom will increase to 48.90%. “Singtel currently holds 47.17% stake in Bharti Telecom. Bharti Enterprises continues to hold over 50% stake in Bharti Telecom.”

“The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the increased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation. The investment comes within 23 months of Singtel's participation in Bharti Telecom’s Right Issue of Rs. 2500 Crores, which was completed in February 2016,” the company said.

Deven Khanna, Managing Director, Bharti Telecom, said, “Airtel shares a nearly two decade-long relationship with Singtel, which has only become stronger over the years. The fresh round of investment highlights the confidence of Singtel in Airtel, and the increased attractiveness of the Indian telecoms sector following the recent consolidation.”

Bharti Airtel is India’s largest telecom provider with over 28 crore subscribers. The operator has been in a constant state of battle with newcomer Reliance Jio over price wars.

Recently, the company had promised a whopping Rs 25,000 crore investment in capital expenditure in FY18.

“To accelerate our 4G roll out in terms of coverage and also build additional capacities in existing geographies..our capex forecast for the year is being upped from initial guidance of Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 25,000 crore," Bharti Airtel Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy said in November 2017.

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