Bharti Airtel International enhances buy back tender offer to $450 million

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Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, which manages Airtel's Africa business, has raised tender offer to buy back up to USD 450 million (about Rs 3,550 crore) of senior notes, the country's second-largest telecom company said on Wednesday. The company had issued a tender offer to purchase USD 300 million worth of its 5.35 per cent guaranteed senior notes of USD 1 billion due 2024. The offer commenced from June 21 and will expire on July 19, 2022.

The company's move to enhance the tender offer follows tendering of debt notes worth over USD 488 million by the bond holders. "The company further announces that in its sole discretion (subject to applicable law and as provided in the Tender Offer Memorandum) it has increased the Maximum Acceptance Amount in relation to the Tender Offer from USD 300,000,000 to USD 450,000,000 in aggregate principal amount of the Notes," Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

The company has come up with the tender offer to optimize its balance sheet and reduce debt. Consolidated net debt excluding lease obligations for Bharti Airtel stood at Rs 1,23,544 crore as of March 31, 2022, compared to Rs 1,15,512.4 crore in the year-ago period.