Sep 18, 2012, 08.25 AM IST

Bharti, PE investors to dilute 10% stake in tower unit

Bharti Infratel, a tower company owned by the telecom operator Bharti Airtel, has filed draft red herring prospectus with market regulator SEBI for public issue of 18.89 crore equity shares.

Source: Moneycontrol.com

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Bharti Infratel, a tower company owned by the telecom operator Bharti Airtel , has filed draft red herring prospectus with market regulator SEBI for public issue of 18.89 crore equity shares. The total issue includes a fresh issue of 14.62 crore shares and an offer for sale of 4.27 crore shares by selling shareholders like Compassvale, GS Strategic, Anadale and Nomura.

The company owned and operated 33,446 towers in 11 telecommunications circles in India while Indus operated 109,539 towers in 15 circles as of June 30, 2012.

Bharti Infratel also holds 42% stake in Indus, which is a joint venture with Vodafone India (holds 42% stake) and Aditya Birla Telecom (with 16% stake). Its revenues from Indus operations stood at Rs 1298.39 crore for the three months period ended on June 30, 2012.

The company proposes to use issue proceeds for installation of 4,813 new towers with a cost of Rs 1,086.56 crore in seven circles in fiscal 2014, 2015 and 2016. It is going to spend Rs 1,214.08 crore for upgradation and replacement on existing towers, and Rs 639.36 crore for green initiatives at tower sites.

The promoter Bharti Airtel will reduce its stake to 79.42% from current 86.09% in Bharti Infratel while private equity investors will cut stake to 10.58% stake from 13.91% post issue.

Bharti Infratel's net profit grew by 36% YoY to Rs 750.73 crore and total income from operations rose by 11% to Rs 9,452.06 crore in the year ended March 31, 2012.

The joint global coordinators and book running lead managers to the issue are DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, J P Morgan India Private Limited, Standard Chartered Securities (India) Limited and UBS Securities India Private Limited. The book running lead managers to the issue are UBS Securities India Private Limited, Barclays Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited.