Bharti Infratel Ltd., the telecom tower business of Bharti Airtel, is entering the capital market on December 11 with an initial public offer (IPO) of 188,900,000 equity shares of a face value of Rs.10 each to raise over Rs.4,500 crore. This will be the biggest IPO since that of Coal India’s two years ago.
On Friday, the company set a price band of Rs.210-240 a share for its IPO. At the highest price band, the company would raise Rs.4,530 crore, while at the lowest end, it would fetch Rs.3,970 crore. The bid lot size for the IPO has been set at 50.
The issue would close on December 14. The book for anchor investors would be launched on December 10. The retail discount decided on per share basis is Rs.10 per share.
Fresh issue
The issue comprises a fresh issue of 146,234,112 equity shares by the company, and an offer for sale of 42,665,888 equity shares by four of its shareholders, including Temasek and Goldman Sachs. The issue will constitute 10 per cent of the post-issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. Bharti Airtel, which owns about 86 per cent of Bharti Infratel, is not selling any shares.
The issue has been assigned a 4/5 grading by Crisil, indicating that the fundamentals of the issue are above average, relative to other listed equity securities.
The equity shares would be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Bharti Infratel has more than 33,000 towers in 18 states.
The company holds 42 per cent stake in Indus Towers, which has around 110,000 towers.
