Bharti Airtel will sell will sell 5 per cent stake to Doha-based Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE) for around Rs 6,800 crore ($1.26 billion) by issuing over 199.87 million new shares.
The announcement comes a day after the telecom operator reported
a 31.1 per cent fall in standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, at Rs 1,084.4 crore.
The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company in a statement said "it has entered into a binding agreement with Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE), under which Bharti will issue 199,870,006 of its new shares to QFE representing a shareholding of 5 per cent in the Company, post issuance of the new shares."
Goldman Sachs acted as the sole financial advisor to QFE on this investment, the statement added.
"I am delighted to welcome another high quality long-term institutional investor to our shareholder base... This agreement exemplifies further strengthening of the already deep economic and cultural relations between Qatar and India," Bharti Airtel Chairman
Sunil Bharti Mittal said in the statement.
QFE will subscribe to the shares at a price of Rs 340 per share, amounting to a total consideration of $1.26 billion (Rs 6,796 crore).
"As a long-term global investor, our shareholding gives us exposure to a high growth sector in key emerging markets. QFE looks forward to supporting Bharti in realising the full potential of this world class business," QFE Acting Chief Executive Officer Rashid Al-Naimi said.
For 2012-13, Bharti Airtel's net profit dropped almost 47 per cent to Rs 2,276 crore while revenue rose 12.4 per cent to Rs 80,311 crore.
Shares of the company were trading 1.42 per cent higher at Rs 321.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange in noon trade.
With inputs from PTI
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