Singapore’s Singtel Group has announced that it will spend approximately INR26.5 billion (USD412.4 million) on purchasing new shares in Bharti Telecom, the holding company that owns around 50.1% of Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel. That transaction will be carried out via Singtel’s wholly-owned Singtel International Investments unit and would see the group allotted up to 85.45 million new equity shares in Bharti Telecom at a price of INR310 per equity share. The purchase will increase Singtel’s stake in Bharti Telecom by up to 1.7%, raising its interest in Airtel by around 0.9% to 39.5%.
Arthur Lang, CEO International at Singtel, explained the company’s decision, saying: ‘This is a good opportunity for us to deepen our strategic partnership with Airtel. While there are currently headwinds in India, we take a long-term view of our investment in Airtel which continues to be a strong market leader in a region with rapidly increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data adoption.’