Bharti Airtel raises stake in Airtel Africa to 79% in transaction worth ₹28,000 crore

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel has raised its stake in Airtel Africa by 16.31% to about 79% through a share-swap agreement, which is estimated to be around ₹28,200 crore, according to a company filing on Tuesday.

Before the transaction, Bharti Airtel held 62.73% in Airtel Africa.

“The company completed the acquisition of 595,204,251 shares (around 16.3% stake) of Airtel Africa, from ICIL on June 22, 2026. Consequently, the company’s effective stake in Airtel Africa has increased to around 79%,” Bharti Airtel said in the filing.

The transaction involves Bharti Airtel issuing equity shares to Indian Continent Investment Limited (ICIL), a promoter group entity, on a preferential basis, in exchange for its 16.31% stake in Airtel Africa.

The transaction, being a cashless share-swap, presents an opportunity to the company to acquire a large block and increase its economic interest in a high-growth asset without any incremental leverage or cash outflow, the statement said.

In the last earnings of Bharti Airtel for the March 2026 quarter, Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal had outlined a plan to increase promoters shareholding in group companies.

Mittal estimated that Airtel Africa in the next few years will become a $10 billion revenue company and a very strong subsidiary of Airtel India generating very handsome returns for the company.

Airtel Africa, has posted over two-fold jump in profit to $813 million (about ₹7,700 crore) for FY26, mainly driven by tariff adjustments in Nigeria and forex gains.

The Africa business had reported a 29.5% increase in revenue to $6.4 billion in FY26 from $4.9 billion in FY25.