press trust of india
New Delhi, Dec 12: Bharti Airtel Tuesday said an affiliate of private equity firm Warburg Pincus will acquire up to a 20 per cent stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for about $350 million (about `2,310 crore).
Out of the 20 per cent, Bharti Airtel will sell its 15 per cent stake in direct-to-home arm and the balance will be sold by another Bharti entity which holds 5 per cent stake in the company.
Upon closing of the transaction, Airtel will own 80 per cent equity stake in Bharti Telemedia Limited. “Airtel has enjoyed a very successful partnership with Warburg Pincus in the past and we are excited to partner with them once again in an attractive and fast growing space,” Bharti Airtel MD & CEO (India & South Asia) Gopal Vittal said.
Bharti Telemedia had approximately 14 million subscribers and approximately $550 million in revenues during the 12-month period ended September 30, 2017. The company claims to have strong distribution infrastructure, with over 1,500 partners and over 1,58,000 recharge outlets in approximately 630 districts of the country.
“The Indian Digital TV market is expanding rapidly and we believe that Airtel DTH is well positioned to capitalise on incremental growth in digitisation and new TV penetration in Tier 3 and 4 towns and rural areas,” Warburg Pincus India, Managing Director and Co-Head, Vishal Mahadevia said.
