Mittals Look To Raise $2 Billion From Foreign Banks To Acquire Portion Of Singtel Stake In Airtel

Mittals and Singtel own 50.56 per cent and 49.44 per cent, respectively, in Bharti Telecom, while Bharti Telecom holds 35.85 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel

New Delhi: The Mittal family has approached several investment banks, via promoter entities, to raise $2 billion through onshore/offshore credit lines to buy some stake in Singapore Telecommunication’s (Singtel’s) share in Bharti Airtel.

Quoting sources, Economic Times in its report said the Mittals are in talks with some major banks such as BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan, and Standard Chartered to raise over $2 billion.

Mittals and Singtel own 50.56 per cent and 49.44 per cent, respectively, in Bharti Telecom, while Bharti Telecom holds 35.85 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel.

Besides, Singtel and the Mittal family also directly hold 14 per cent and 6.04 per cent, respectively, in Bharti Airtel through investment firms. In totality, the Mittal family holds 24.13 per cent in Bharti Airtel, while Singtel owns 31.72 per cent.

Since 2000, Singtel has been a stakeholder in Bharti Airtel.

In late May, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded Bharti Airtel's rating to Baa3, citing continued strengthening of its operational metrics as well as stabilisation of the financial profile.

It has withdrawn the company's Ba1 corporate family rating. Moody's has also changed the outlook for the company to stable from positive.

Global rating agency Moody’s in a statement said that Bharti’s Baa3 rating considers the company's position as one of the largest telecom service operators globally in terms of subscribers (49.1 crore), its solid market position in India's high-growth mobile market, and its large spectrum holdings.

Bharti Airtel had logged more than twofold rise in consolidated net profit for March quarter FY22 to Rs 2,008 crore, buoyed by a lift in average revenue per user and an exceptional gain.