Bharti Enterprises on Thursday said it is ready to come out with USD 1 billion initial public offer of its tower arm Bharti Infratel as soon as market regulator SEBI clears the proposal.
“We are ready to go but obviously there is a process with SEBI. They have to clear that document. They are in the process of looking at it. I really can’t give a timeline but I would really like to do as soon as possible,” Bharti Enterprises Deputy Group CEO and MD Akhil Gupta told reporters here.
“It depends on SEBI. As soon as they clear it, we are ready to go,” he added.
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The company had filed papers for the issue in September this year and expects to raise up to USD 1 billion (about Rs 5,500 crore).
Bharti Infratel may divest 10 per cent stake in the IPO and Bharti Airtel, which owns around 86 per cent stake in the tower unit has decided against participating in the share sale process.
In a filing, Bharti Airtel had said the IPO will constitute a fresh issue of equity shares by Bharti Infratel and an offer for sale portion by Compassvale Investments Pte, GS Strategic Investments, Anadale and Nomura Asia Investment (IB) Pte.
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Bharti Infratel has more than 33,000 towers in operation.
No tower company is listed in India, although Reliance Infratel has plans to go for a public issue.