Sunil Mittal gets Rs 8486 crore after selling….; still seeks funds for newer…
The 67-year-old billionaire now has a net worth of USD 12.1 billion as of February 18.
Despite becoming top billionaires in India, several businessmen, including Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, still expanding their business empires. Now, billionaire Sunil Mittal, who runs India’s second-largest telecom firm, Bharti Airtel, has sold shares worth USD 976 million (Rs 8486 crore) of his company, Bloomberg reported. The first-generation entrepreneur now seeks funds for newer opportunities. As per Forbes, the 67-year-old now has a net worth of USD 12.1 billion as of February 18.
Indian Continental Investment Ltd., a founder entity of Bharti Airtel Ltd. sold 0.84 per cent stake or 51 million shares for Rs 8,485 crore (USD 976 million), nearly a fourth of which were picked up by another group firm Bharti Telecom Ltd., according to an exchange filing Tuesday. The trade happened at Rs 1660.46 per share. Bharti Telecom is promoter firm of Bharti Airtel.
Other investors’ names were not disclosed. The shares were “allocated only to key marquee long only names, both global and domestic,” the filing said. The sale comes at a time when Airtel founder is expanding his business operations overseas with investments in Africa and UK-based satellite company OneWeb, which merged with Eutelsat in 2023. A unit of closely held Bharti Enterprises Ltd. bought a 24.5 per cent stake in BT Group Plc last year.
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Bharti Telecom had acquired about 1.2 per cent in Airtel from Indian Continental Investment in November, the filing said. Presently, Airtel has a market cap of Rs 9.99 lakh crore. as of February 18. The telecom firm competes with billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio, the largest telecom service provider in India.
