Singtel may look to sell Airtel shares worth $1 billion: CNBC-Awaaz

Singtel may look to sell Airtel shares worth $1 billion: CNBC-Awaaz

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel) is looking to sell another tranche in Bharti Airtel through block deals, reported CNBC-Awaaz on February 17 citing sources.

Singtel may look to sell Airtel shares worth $1 billion or Rs 8,500 crore, the channel reported

Singtel, at present, directly owns 9.5% in Bharti Airtel through its affiliate Pastel Ltd. Meanwhile, the Sunil Mittal-led promoter family holds a 3.31% direct stake through Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), a promoter group entity.

Singtel will sell shares as part of capital recycling program and proceeds are likely to be used to strengthen balance sheet and reward shareholders, reported CNBC-Awaaz.

The Singtel Board will meet later this week to take a call on stake sale in Bharti Airtel, the channel added.

Singtel earlier sold 0.8% stake in Airtel to GQG through block window deal in March 2024. Its net debt as of September 30 was $7.8 billion and will announce its business update for December quarter on February 19.

At 3 pm on February 17, Airtel shares on NSE were trading nearly 3% lower at Rs 1,670 apiece.

Singtel, which has been a strategic investor in Airtel since 2000, previously in 2022 sold a 3.3 percent direct stake in Airtel for Rs 12,895 crore to Bharti Telecom, Airtel’s holding company.

For Singtel, the stake sales are part of a strategy started in 2021 to reduce debt and provide more value to shareholders through dividends besides funding the growth of its data centre and IT services.

Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel reported a higher quarterly profit for December quarter, helped by a one-time gain and as tariff hikes continued to boost its per-user revenue.

The company's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 14,781 crore for the third quarter from Rs 2,442 crore a year earlier.

It also reported a one-time gain of Rs 7,546 crore, which mainly includes gains from the rise in valuation of its stake in its unit Indus Towers.

Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), which it leads its rivals by a wide margin, rose 5.2% sequentially and 18% year-on-year to Rs 245.