India's telecom giant Bharti Airtel saw its stock take a sharp tumble today as one of its major promoter entities sold a massive stake, raising nearly Rs 7,190 crore in the process. The latest market action adds to Airtel's long-time shareholders repositioning their holdings.
Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), held by telecom billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's family office, offloaded 3.43 crore shares—representing a 0.56 per cent stake—through a block deal on Wednesday.
The shares hit the market at a floor price of Rs 2,096.70 apiece according to a term sheet seen by PTI, a 3 per cent discount to Tuesday's closing price of Rs 2,161.60 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
The transaction, valued at $806 million (close to Rs 7,189.2 crore) and managed by Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, immediately triggered a market reaction.
Following the announcement and execution of the block deal, Bharti Airtel's scrip fell sharply.
On the NSE, shares dropped 3 per cent to as low as ₹2,097.50.
This stake sale marks the third large block deal by Airtel's promoter entities within the last six months, signalling a deliberate, phased strategy to monetise holdings and increase the company's free float.
After today's sale, ICIL's holding in Airtel plummeted from 1.48 per cent to 0.92 per cent. The combined promoter stake, including other family entities like Bharti Telecom Ltd and Singapore Telecom's affiliate Pastel Ltd, now sits just below 50 per cent.
Back in August, ICIL offloaded Rs 11,227 crore worth of stake, nearly one per cent of its holdings then, in Airtel. This came on the heels of ICIL already selling Airtel shares valued at Rs 8,485.11 crore through a market transaction back in February.
Singtel, a few weeks ago, sold about 0.8 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for S$1.5 billion (around Rs 10,353 crore).
Airtel recently posted strong September-quarter results, with consolidated net profit rising to Rs 6,792 crore and revenue climbing to Rs 52,145 crore, on the back of steady growth in premium subscribers and 5G adoption.
