Bharti Airtel stake sale: Mittal family company sells Rs 8,485-crore of Airtel shares in block deals

Of the shares sold, 12 million were acquired by Bharti Telecom (BTL)-the main promoter-level controlling company of Bharti Airtel-while the balance shares were lapped up by a host of global and local marquee investors including GQG Partners, Fidelity, Lazard, ICICI Prudential MF and SBI Life, according to people familiar with the matter. Mittal family-backed ICIL sold shares at ₹1,660 apiece, as per the block deal data.

Rajiv Jain-led GQG Partners was the top buyer, acquiring 19.9 million shares for ₹3,295 crore. Bharti Telecom bought shares worth ₹2,000 crore. SBI Life Insurance and the National Pension System (NPS) Trust were other major investors, buying shares worth ₹500 crore and ₹450 crore, respectively, as per the block deal data. Other key investors who bought shares worth over ₹100 crore included Vanguard International Value Fund, Reliance Trust Institutional Retirement Trust, India Acorn, Nordea and Melbourne-based AustralianSuper.

Agencies

A sizeable chunk of the Mittal family-backed promoter entity’s stake sale proceeds is likely to be used to finance the Bharti Group’s recent 24.5% stake buy in London-based BT Group, formerly British Telecom (BT), said one of the persons, who did not wish to be identified.

In December 2024, the UK government had backed Bharti’s near $4 billion stake buy in BT Group via Bharti Global-the international investment arm of Mittal-owned Bharti Enterprises. It marked the Bharti Group’s second major global foray after venturing into Africa 15 years ago.

“ICIL has sold 0.84% shareholding in Airtel through a market transaction, for ₹8,485.11 crore. BTL, the promoter of Airtel, anchored the trade by acquiring 1.2 crore shares (24% of ICIL’s sale of today), helping the overall book to be allocated only to key marquee long-only names, both global and domestic,” BTL said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.Through the latest block deal, BTL increased its holding in the Indian telco to 40.47%. “BTL now holds 40.47% of Airtel, reinforcing its previously stated intent of strengthening its position as the principal vehicle to hold a controlling stake in Airtel, remaining focused on gradually increasing its stake while maintaining a prudent leverage profile as it does so,” BTL added.

Last November, BTL had similarly acquired 1.2% in Bharti Airtel from ICIL through an off-market transaction.

ET’s queries to Bharti Group on the proposed deployment of the latest ICIL stake sale proceeds remained unanswered till press time. Bharti Airtel shares closed at ₹1668.40 apiece on the BSE, down 0.43% from the previous close, pegging the telco’s market capitalisation at over ₹9.50 lakh-crore.

Following the latest stake sale, the Mittal family holds a 2.47% direct stake in Bharti Airtel through ICIL. Co-promoter Singtel’s direct 9.49% holding in Bharti Airtel through affiliate, Pastel, remains unchanged.

But the effective stakes of Singtel and the Mittal family in Bharti Airtel will change marginally since their indirect holdings are routed through the controlling entity BTL, which has increased its stake.

At present, the Mittal family-backed Bharti Group and Singtel own 50.56% and 49.44% in BTL, respectively. But since BTL’s stake in Bharti Airtel has risen to 40.47%, Singtel and the Mittal family now effectively own 29.49% and 22.93%, respectively through a mix of direct and indirect holdings.