Singapore Telecommunications said on Thursday (Aug 25) it would sell a 3.3 per cent stake in India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd to Bharti Telecom Ltd for an aggregate consideration of about S$2.25 billion (US$1.61 billion).
Singtel, Southeast Asia’s largest telecom firm, said its units Pastel and Viridian would together sell 198 million shares they hold in India’s second-biggest telecom operator.
The stake sale comes at a time when Singtel trims down its portfolio to sharpen focus on core businesses.
Singtel said last month it would sell its loss-making digital marketing arm Amobee for US$239 million, monetised a 1.6 per cent stake in Airtel Africa for about S$150 million in March, and sold a 70 per cent stake in its Australian tower network for A$1.9 billion (US$1.31 billion) last year.
After the stake sale, Singtel’s effective holding in Bharti Airtel will fall to 29.7 per cent, it added.
Proceeds from the sale may be used to reduce the group’s debt and fund 5G initiatives.
“With this transaction, we will raise over S$2 billion which will help to fully meet the Group’s needs for 5G and growth initiatives in the next few years, and put us in a strong position to grow our dividends in a sustainable way in line with our dividend policy,” said Singtel’s Group chief financial officer Arthur Lang.
Meanwhile, Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal said the two companies “have agreed to work towards equalising their effective stake in Airtel over time”.
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