Singtel entities offload 1.76% in Airtel for Rs. 7,128 cr

New Delhi: Singtel entities have jointly offloaded a 1.76 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for about Rs7,128 crore, according to sources. Bharti Airtel promoter Bharti Telecom Ltd has bought a 1.63 per cent stake from Singtel entity Pastel Ltd for Rs6,602 crore through an open market transaction. According to the bulk deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bharti Telecom purchased 9,62,34,427 shares, amounting to a 1.63 per cent stake in the company. The shares were acquired at an average price of Rs686 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs6,601.68 crore. The shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd were sold by Pastel Ltd, a unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel). According to sources, Viridian also offloaded about one crore shares.

"Singtel entities have jointly offloaded a total of 1.76 per cent shares on Wednesday. Bharti Telecom has acquired 96 million shares while public has acquired around 7 million shares offloaded by Singtel group firms.

"Post this transaction, public shareholding in Bharti Airtel will increase to 44.87 per cent from 44.74 per cent," a source aware of the development told PTI. Email query sent to Bharti Airtel did not elicit any reply. At the end of the June quarter, Bharti Telecom Ltd owned a 35.85 per cent stake in the company, the shareholding pattern showed with the exchange. Bharti Group chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal's family and Singtel are co-investors in Bharti Telecom Ltd (BTL).