Bharti Airtel plans ₹28,000 crore share swap

Bharti Airtel’s board on Wednesday approved a ₹28,220 crore share-swap deal with Indian Continent Investment (ICIL) to raise its stake in UK-listed subsidiary Airtel Africa, while increasing ICIL’s holding in Bharti Airtel by about 2.3 percentage points in one of India’s largest related-party transactions.

ICIL is a Mauritius-based investment entity functioning as a family office investment vehicle for the Sunil Bharti Mittal family, a promoter group entity of Bharti Airtel. Analysts termed the move positive for Airtel, saying the Street had expected an all-cash transaction.