Vodafone may be in a hurry to sell its indirect stake in Bharti Airtel which is valued at a whopping USD 1.4 billion at the current market price. Sources tell CNBC-TV18's Kritika Saxena that Bharti may be looking at buying out Vodafone's 4.39% stake.
However, for this, Bharti may seek financial partners to fund the acquisition as the company currently has huge debt on its books owing to the Zain acquisition and the 3G payout. In fact, it is being learnt that the company has received expression of interest from three financial players for the buyout. The Indian telecom major may also be open talking to private equity players.
What's the hurry?
Birtish telecom major Vodafone Plc is seeking to exits all minority investments globally by 2013 and focus on the majority stake it holds across companies.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel spokeperson said, "We do not comment on market speculation as per policy." (To know what the company said in September 2010, click HERE) Meanwhile, Vodafone Plc spokesperson, Ben Padovan also said, "We do not wish to comment on our stake in Bharti."
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In 2007, Bharti had bought out Vodafone's 5.6% in Airtel for around USD 1.6 billion, which was a pre-determined price set by the two companies. It was around the same time that Vodafone too had bought out Hutch.
source-http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-tv18-comments/bharti-looks-at-buying-vodafone39s-44-stakeairtel_557478.html
steven
management trainee-fundamental analysis
DENIP consultants Pvt Ltd
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