Singtel sells 1.2% direct stake in India's Bharti Airtel for S$2 billion
[SINGAPORE] Telecommunications service provider Singtel has sold around 1.2 per cent of its direct stake in regional associate Bharti Airtel for S$2 billion.
This is part of its active capital management approach to optimise its asset portfolio and drive shareholder returns sustainably, the group said in a bourse filing on Friday (May 16).
Singtel has sold 71 million shares of Airtel at 1,814 rupees a share, through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Pastel.
The price reflects a 2.9 per cent discount to the closing price of Airtel's shares on Thursday.
After the completion of the sale, Singtel's effective stake in Airtel will decrease from 29.5 per cent to 28.3 per cent, which is valued at around S$48 billion, and generate an estimated gain of S$1.4 billion.
The transaction was executed through a private placement to international and Indian institutional investors, including existing shareholders of Airtel.
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'The private placement received strong interest from existing shareholders and new investors and was well oversubscribed, resulting in both an increase in transaction size, as well as tighter final pricing than initial guidance,' the group added.
The majority of the transaction was sold to domestic mutual funds and international long-only funds.
Arthur Lang, Singtel's group chief financial officer, said: 'This transaction allows us to crystallise value at an attractive valuation while remaining a significant shareholder of Airtel.'
He added: 'This is a key tenet of our Singtel28 growth plan, where we've identified active capital management and the financial flexibility it brings, as integral to funding growth initiatives while supporting capital returns.'
It was previously reported that Singtel was expected to sell shares worth US$1 billion, corresponding to around 47.6 million Airtel shares at a floor price of 1,800 rupees a share, which is a 3.6 per cent discount to the stock's last close.
This is not the first time Singtel has sold a portion of its stake in Airtel. In 2022 and 2024, it raised a total of around S$3.5 billion from the progressive sale of Airtel shares. It helped to support the group's 5G deployment, digital infrastructure expansion and sustainable shareholder distribution.
As at 1.09 pm on Friday, shares of Singtel were up 1.6 per cent or S$0.06 at S$3.80.
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