Kolkata: A Bharti Airtel panel of directors has approved the issuance of shares by the telco to google on a preferential basis following the purchase by the US-based tech giant of a 1.2% stake in the telco for $700 million earlier this year.
“A special committee of directors for preferential allotment of the company, at its meeting on July 14, approved the allotment of 71,176,839 shares with a nominal value of Rs 5 each, fully paid up, on a preferential basis to Google International LLCat an issue price of Rs 734 per share (including a premium of Rs 729 per share)” airtel said in an application to BSE Thursday.
“Google would own 1.2% of the company’s total shares after the issuance,” the Sunil Mittal-led telco said.
It added that after allotment to Google, Airtel’s paid-up share capital “has increased to Rs 28,306,517,827.50 divided into 5,563,231,650 fully paid-up shares of Rs 5 each and 3,92,287,662 partially paid-up shares of Rs 5 each (paid-up shares). value Rs 1.25 each)”.
Airtel shares closed 0.23% against Rs 642 on BSE in late afternoon trading on Thursday.
In January, Google had announced an investment of up to $1 billion in Bharti Airtel. Of this, $700 million would be for a 1.2% stake (including partially paid shares), while the balance would be pumped $300 million over five years as part of commercial pacts to make smartphones more affordable to deliver 4G upgrades. network domain to be managed and also to be jointly developed 5G use cases.
Google’s $700 million (Rs 5,224.4 crore) investment in Airtel will come from its $10 billion Google for India Digitalization Fund.
Google’s investment is also expected to boost Airtel’s war chest as India’s second-largest telco prepares to participate in the sale of 5G airwaves, which will begin on July 26. industry experts estimate that Airtel will bid on 5G spectrum worth about Rs 45,000-50,000 crore in the upcoming auction.