Bharti Airtel To Buy 20% Stake In Its DTH Arm From Warburg Pincus

Bharti Airtel Ltd said on Wednesday it will buy US private equity firm Warburg Pincus' 20 per cent stake in its direct-to-home (DTH) television arm for Rs 31.26 billion ($4,29.31 million).

Bharti Airtel, which is looking to consolidate the shareholding of its consumer facing businesses, said it will issue about 36.5 million shares to a Warburg Pincus affiliate at Rs 600 per share, and up to Rs 10.38 billion in cash.

“DTH is an integral part of our Homes strategy and this transaction is another step towards simplifying the shareholding of our customer facing businesses,” said Harjeet Kohli, group director of Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of Bharti Airtel.