NRI Rajiv Jain-led GQG Partners on Thursday bought 49 million shares of telecom operator Bharti Airtel at Rs 1,193.70 from promoter group entity Singapore Telecommunications or Singtel. The deal for 0.8% stake in Airtel is valued at $710.81 million or Rs 5,849 crore.
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The sale, carried out through Singtel’s subsidiary Pastel Limited, resulted in Singtel’s effective stake in Bharti Airtel reducing from 29.8% to 29%. Earlier in 2022 also, Singtel had sold a 3.3% direct stake in Airtel.
The telecom operator is co-owned by Sunil Bharti Mittal family and Singapore-based Singtel.
Singtel said it sold stake in Airtel to fund the growth of its data centre and IT services, as well as reduce net debt.
“We’re pleased to have raised S$0.95 billion, while adding a marquee name to Airtel’s share base. The Group is now in an even stronger position to execute our disciplined capital approach of balancing investing for greater growth and delivering strong, sustainable returns for our shareholders,” Singtel CFO Arthur Lang said.
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“Airtel continues to see steady growth across all its businesses and has been rewarded with strong market valuations. We believe there’s more room for growth given India’s accelerated digital transformation and we intend to stay invested for the long term while working with Bharti Enterprises to equalise our effective stake in Airtel over time,” he added.
Following the announcement of the deal by Singtel, Airtel shares were trading 1% higher on BSE at Rs 1203.40.
Back in 2022, tech giant Google had picked up a 1.18% stake in the telecom operator through preferential allotment at an issue price of Rs 734.
GQG shot to limelight on Dalal Street last year by picking stakes in four Adani stocks for Rs 15,000 crore during the peak of the Hindenburg crisis.
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GQG’s India portfolio now includes ITC, Patanjali Foods, IDFC First Bank, JSW Energy, Max Healthcare Institute besides six counters from billionaire Gautam Adani’s kingdom.
