SingTel raises stake in Bharti Airtel to 32.43%

SingTel has raised its stake in Bharti Airtel after paying around S$383.6 million (US$302 million) for a further 3.62 per cent stake.

SingTel will pay the amount in cash to buy the additional equity stake in Bharti Telecom Ltd., which owns about 43.6 per cent of Bharti Airtel. Post the transaction, SingTel’s direct and indirect holding in Bharti Airtel will rise to 32.34 per cent from 30.76 per cent at present.

In a stock market filing, SingTel said that it bought the stake from MacRitchie Investments as part of its "strategic focus on maximising the value of its existing businesses."

MacRitchie Investments is a holding company owned by the Singapore government, which also owns a 51.9 per cent stake in SingTel. In essence, it’s a tidying up of the shareholder ownership.

SingTel said that the acquisition will not have a material impact on its earnings per share nor its net tangible assets per share for the current financial year ending March 31, 2014.