India’s largest mobile phone company sells 10.3% of tower unit to KKR-Canada Pension Plan combine
India’s Bharti Airtel has sold a 10.3% stake in its tower unit to a consortium for 61.94 billion rupees ($952 million) as the country’s largest mobile phone company seeks to trim its staggering debt.
The consortium, backed by private equity firm KKR & Co. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, paid 325 rupees per Bharti Infratel share, a 4% premium to Monday’s closing price, Bharti Airtel said in a statement to the Indian stock exchanges Tuesday.
Bharti Airtel, which will hold a 61.7% stake in the tower company after the deal closes, plans to use the proceeds to pay off consolidated debt that stood at $14.34 billion at December end.
The deal is KKR’s second entry into Bharti Infratel. The private equity firm exited the tower company in 2015 after a profitable, seven-year long investment.
“The long-term investment horizon of the investors aligns well with the capital needs and business cycles of Bharti Infratel,” Sunil Bharti Mittal, Bharti Airtel’s billionaire chairman, said Tuesday.
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