Bharti Airtel will acquire Warburg Pincus affiliate’s 20 percent stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for INR 31,260 million or $429.31 million.
The transaction is part of Airtel’s strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group.
Harjeet Kohli, group director, Bharti Enterprises said, “DTH is an integral part of our Homes strategy and this transaction is another step towards simplifying the shareholding of our customer facing businesses providing structural flexibility and ease of implementation.”
In December 2017, a Warburg Pincus affiliate, agreed to acquire 20 percent stake in Bharti Telemedia, the DTH arm of Airtel.
Bharti Airtel said on Wednesday it has set up a special committee to evaluate options for reorganising its businesses and shareholding structure, as the company sharpens focus on its digital and non-telecom businesses.
The company’s core telecom business in India has come under pressure since Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio entered the space with cut-price tariffs, pushing players such as Airtel to focus on digital services.
