Bharti Airtel arm Bharti Hexacom files draft papers for IPO; govt to offload 10 crore shares

MUMBAI - Bharti Airtel on Saturday said that its arm Bharti Hexacom has filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an initial public offering, following the board approval.

The IPO comprises an offer for sale of up to 100,000,000 shares by Telecommunications Consultants India.

Telecommunications Consultants is a government-owned company, and owns a 30% stake in Bharti Hexacom.

The remaining 70% stake in Bharti Hexacom is held by Bharti Airtel..

There will be no fresh issue of shares in the IPO, and, therefore, Bharti Hexacom will not receive any proceeds from the share sale, Bharti Airtel said in a release to the exchanges.

There will be no fresh issue of shares in the IPO, and, therefore, Bharti Hexacom will not receive any proceeds from the share sale, Bharti Airtel said in a release to the exchanges.

Three months back, Economic Times had reported quoting sources that the government may mop Rs 10,000 crore through stake sale in the mobile telephony services company.

Bharti Hexacom runs mobile services in Rajasthan and the Northeast circles of India. Airtel will continue to hold a majority stake in the subsidiary.

Through sale of 10 crore shares, the government will be selling a majority of its holding in the company.

SBI Capital Markets, Axis Capital, BOB Capital Markets, ICICI Securities, and IIFL Securities are the book-running lead managers to the issue.

The northeast telecommunication circles in India comprise the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.

From an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 135 in FY21, Bharti Hexacom has managed to improve this to Rs 195 during the six months ended September 2023.

As of September 2023, the company had an aggregate of 29.1 million customers across both circles.

Bharti Hexacom has a spectrum portfolio with a varied pool of mid-band spectrum, which has enabled us to offer 5G plus services to customers.

For the six months ended September, Bharti Hexacom reported a revenue of Rs 3,420 crore, compared to Rs 3,167 crore a year ago. However, profit dropped to Rs 69 crore from Rs 195 crore a year ago.

Shares of parent Bharti Airtel were trading 0.1% up on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 1,126.40.

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