Bharti Infratel's Rs 4,500 cr IPO kicks off, Airtel shares gain

The initial public offering (IPO) of Bharti Infratel, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, opened for subscription on Tuesday . The price band for the IPO, which closes on December 14, has been fixed at between Rs 210 to Rs 240 per share.

At the upper end of the price band, Bharti Infratel would raise about Rs 4,533.60 crore, while at the lower end it could end up with Rs 3,966.90 crore through the listing of the company on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Bharti Infratel board on Monday finalised the allocation of 2.83 crore equity shares to a total of 34 anchor investors at Rs 230 per share.

The IPO is a combination of fresh issue of 14.62 crore equity shares and an offer for sale of 4.26 crore equity share by some existing shareholders.

Bharti Airtel's tower arm acquires, builds, owns and operates towers and related infrastructure, and provides access of its towers to wireless telecommunications service providers on a shared basis under long-term contracts.

It has more than 33,000 mobile towers and holds a 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers, which has over one lakh towers in India.

Bharti Airtel holds 86.1 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel. Post the offer, Bharti Airtel's stake will come down to 79 per cent. The company itself is not selling any shares in the IPO.

Shares of the Bharti Airtel jumped to a high of Rs 321 in early trade before trading 1.67 per cent lower at Rs 312.50 in the afternoon trade.

With inputs from agencies