In Bharti Infratel, the mobile phone tower arm of Indias largest telecom company by subscribers, Bharti, is planning to have an initial public offering of at least $500 million. According to sources, the regulatory papers will get filed in September or October of this year. Standard Chartered and Morgan Stanley are among the frontrunners for helping to manage the mega initial public offering.
The spokesperson for Bharti has refused to comment on the strong buzz about a Bharti Infratel IPO being in the offing. Bharti Infratel owns more than 30,000 mobile phone towers in the country. It also holds a 42 per cent stake in the company called Indus Towers, which is world's largest telecom tower firm with more than 110,000 towers. The details of the IPO are still being worked out and the size of the final offering can change in accordance to the valuation.
Bharti had sold 9 per cent stake in its tower unit to seven international investors, including Temasek Holdings and Goldman Sachs, for a total US$1 billion in 2007. The list of other investors in Bharti Infratel includes names like Macquarie Group, Citigroup, India Equity Partners, Investment Corporation of Dubai and AIF Capital. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has invested $250 million in the company in 2008.
This year, the capital markets in India have been rather sluggish, with few companies raising only $7.1 billion in the first half of 2011. This is down nearly 42 per cent from the same period last year. Many firms, including bluechip names like SAIL and ONGC have delayed their fund raising plans due to adverse conditions in the market.
Add new comment