No Plans To Buy Vodafone UK's Share In Indus Towers, Airtel Clarifies

Sunil Mittal's Airtel is currently the largest shareholder in Indus Towers with a 47.95 per cent stake

Airtel is aiming for a valuation of Rs 210-212 per share, the same range at which US private equity firm KKR and Canadian pension fund CPP Investment Board sold their Indus shares in February.

Source : Getty

Bharti Airtel has clarified that it is not engaged in discussions to acquire UK-based Vodafone Group's 21.05 per cent stake in Indus Towers, a prominent Indian telecom operator, following a newspaper report suggesting that Airtel was considering the purchase, as reported by Reuters. According to a report by The Economic Times, if a deal were to happen, Vodafone Group might allocate some of the proceeds to Vodafone Idea, its financially challenged joint venture in India with Aditya Birla Group.

In a stock exchange filing Airtel said that it does not wish to increase its stake beyond what is necessary for the financial consolidation of Indus Towers within the company. Any such action would adhere to relevant disclosure requirements.

Sunil Mittal's Airtel is currently the largest shareholder in Indus Towers with a 47.95 per cent stake.

Requests by Reuters for comment from Vodafone Group, Vodafone Idea, and Indus Towers went unanswered.

Airtel shares advanced by 0.3 per cent, while Vodafone Idea shares dropped by 4.5 per cent on Wednesday. Indus Towers' share price declined by 1.4 per cent to Rs 354.40.

The report from The Economic Times noted that discussions had stalled due to differences over valuation, as Airtel was not prepared to buy the stake at Indus Towers' current share price, which has increased by over 77 per cent since January.

Airtel is aiming for a valuation of Rs 210-212 per share, the same range at which US private equity firm KKR and Canadian pension fund CPP Investment Board sold their Indus shares in February.

In a related development, Vodafone Idea recently raised Rs 20.75 billion ($249.08 million) as part of a larger equity funding effort from Aditya Birla Group entity Oriana Investments through preferential shares. The company plans to raise Rs 200 billion through equity and Rs 250 billion via debt to roll out its 5G network service and expand its 4G coverage. Larger competitors Airtel and Reliance Jio have already rolled out 5G services in most parts of India.