Bharti Infratel

Last updated

Bharti Infratel Limited
Type Public
ISIN INE121J01017
Industry Telecommunications
FoundedJuly 2007 (2007-07)
Defunct19 November 2020 (2020-11-19)
FateMerged with Indus Towers
SuccessorIndus Towers
Headquarters901, Park Centra, Sector 30, NH 8,
Gurugram, Haryana
,
India [1]
Number of locations
95,372 towers [1]  (March 2020)
Area served
India
Key people
RevenueDecrease2.svg₹6,871.7 crore (US$860 million) [3]  (FY20)
Increase2.svg₹3,787.5 crore (US$470 million) [3]  (FY20)
Increase2.svg₹3,298.7 crore (US$410 million) [3]  (FY20)
Total assets Increase2.svg₹20,158.8 crore (US$2.5 billion) [3]  (FY20)
Total equity Decrease2.svg₹13,542.3 crore (US$1.7 billion) [3]  (FY20)
Number of employees
2,402 [3]  (FY20)
Parent Bharti Airtel
Website www.bharti-infratel.com

Bharti Infratel Limited was an Indian telecommunications infrastructure company that provided telecom infrastructure such as telecom towers, fiber networks and other related infrastructure. [4] Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the company was established by Bharti Airtel in July 2007 by spinning-off its mobile towers to a new wholly-owned subsidiary. Bharti Infratel was the first Indian company to start a tower infrastructure sharing business. It was India's largest consolidated tower infrastructure company, directly owning 95,372 towers as on 31 March 2020. [1]

Contents

Bharti Infratel was merged with Indus Towers on 19 November 2020. Bharti Airtel now holds a 36.73% stake in Indus Towers. [5]

History

On 23 January 2007, Bharti Airtel announced that it would spin-off its mobile towers to a new wholly-owned subsidiary called Bharti Infratel Limited. [6] Bharti Infratel Limited was incorporated in July 2007. [7]

Bharti Infratel initiated an initial public offering (IPO) in December 2012 raising US$764 million. [8] The IPO was subscribed 1.3 times and was the largest IPO in India since Coal India in October 2010. [9] Bharti Infratel was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange on 28 December 2012. [3]

The company used to be in the NIFTY 50 index. In September 2020, Divi's Laboratories and SBI Life Insurance Company replaced Bharti Infratel and Zee Entertainment Enterprises on the index. [10] [11]

Merger with Indus Towers

Indus Towers was incorporated in November 2007 as an Indian telecommunications infrastructure company offering passive infrastructure services to telecom operators and other wireless services providers such as broadband service providers. [12] Bharti Infratel held a 42% stake in the company, with Vodafone Group holding 42% and Vodafone Idea holding 11.15%. [13] The remaining 4.85% stake was held by private equity firm Providence Equity. [14]

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Group, and Vodafone Idea announced on 25 April 2018 that they had signed an agreement to merge Bharti Infratel with Indus Towers. [15] The merger was originally planned to go through before October 2019. However, due to delays in approvals, it was postponed to December 2019 by when the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) was supposed to give its permission. Owing to further delays by the DoT and the National Company Law Tribunal the deadline was extended multiple times to 24 June 2020. [16] [17]

The DoT approved the merger on 21 February 2020. [18] The merger received foreign direct investment approval and was due to be completed by 31 August. [19] The merger was approved by Bharti Infratel's board on 1 September, and by Vodafone Group in October 2020. [20]

The merger was completed on 19 November 2020. Vodafone Idea received ₹3,760.1 crore (US$470 million) as compensation for its 11.15% stake. Post-merger, Bharti Airtel received a 36.73% stake in the merged entity and Vodafone Group held a 28.12% stake. [5] The remaining shares are held by private equity firm Providence Equity Partners (3.1%) and public shares (35.2%). [21] The merger made Indus Towers the second largest telecom tower infrastructure operator in the world. [22]

Related Research Articles

India's telecommunication network is the second largest in the world by number of telephone users with 1179.49 million subscribers as on 31 January 2021. It has one of the lowest call tariffs in the world enabled by mega telecom operators and hyper-competition among them. India has the world's second-largest Internet user-base with 747.41 million broadband internet subscribers in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vodafone</span> British multinational telecommunications company

Vodafone Group plc is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunil Mittal</span> Indian businessperson

Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian billionaire businessman and philanthropist.He is the founder and chairperson of Bharti Enterprises, which has diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, education, malls, hospitality, Agri and food besides other ventures. Bharti Airtel, the group's flagship company is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa with a customer base of over 399 million. Bharti Airtel clocked revenues of over US$14.75 billion in FY2016. In 2023 he was ranked the 10th richest person in India by Forbes, with an estimated net worth of US$14.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NIFTY 50</span> Indian stock market index

The NIFTY 50 is a benchmark Indian stock market index that represents the weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange.

Tata Tele Business Services Limited (TTBSL), formally known as Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL), is an Indian broadband, telecommunications and cloud service provider based in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate. It operated fixed line services under the brand name Tata Tele Broadband in various telecom circles of India. Tata Teleservices used to provide mobile services under Tata DoCoMo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warid Telecom</span>

Warid Telecom International was an Emirati telecommunications company which was active in Bangladesh, Georgia, Congo, Pakistan, and Uganda before its divestment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharti Airtel</span> Indian multinational telecommunications company

Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is an Indian multinational telecommunications services company based in New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, as well as the Channel Islands. Currently, Airtel provides 4G and LTE Advanced services all over India and 5G service in selected cities. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology across all Indian telecom circles. It is the largest mobile network operator in India and the second largest mobile network operator in the world. Airtel was named India's 2nd most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc.

Bharti Enterprises Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across telecommunications, manufacturing, insurance, real estate, hospitality, and food. The group's flagship company, Bharti Airtel, is a telecom service provider with operations in more than 18 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. The company ranks amongst the top two mobile network operators globally by number of subscribers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airtel Bangladesh</span> A brand of Robi Axiata Ltd in Bangladesh

Airtel is a Bangladeshi telecommunications company. It was managed by Bharti Airtel Bangladesh until 2016 when Bharti Airtel Bangladesh merged its operations into Robi Axiata Ltd. Following the merger, Airtel Bangladesh remained a product brand of Robi Axiata. Since then, Robi Axiata is the brand licensing holder for Airtel in Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loop Mobile</span>

Loop Mobile India Ltd, formerly BPL Mobile Communications, was an Indian mobile network operator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tata Docomo</span> Indian telecommunications company

Tata Docomo was an Indian mobile network operator, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Teleservices deriving its name from NTT Docomo who invested in the company in 2008. In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced a merger deal with Tata Teleservices and the acquisition of Tata Docomo. As of 21 July 2019, all Tata Docomo users are merged with Airtel network and provided with all the Airtel services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telenor India</span> Indian telecommunication company

Telenor (India) Communications Private Limited, formerly known as Uninor, was an Indian mobile network operator. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor Group. In February 2017, Telenor Group announced merging the India business with Bharti Airtel in a no-cash deal with liability of Airtel to take over the outstanding spectrum payments of Rs 1,650 crore post necessary regulatory approvals.

Indus Towers Limited is an Indian telecommunications infrastructure company offering passive infrastructure services to mobile network operators and other wireless services providers. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, Indus Towers was incorporated in November 2007 by Bharti Infratel, Vodafone Essar, and Idea Cellular, to provide shared telecom infrastructure to telecom operators on a non-discriminatory basis.

Vodafone India was the Indian subsidiary of UK-based Vodafone Group plc and was a provider of Telecommunications services in India with its operational head office in Mumbai. As of March 2018, Vodafone India had a market share of 21% and with its merger with Idea, the collective Vodafone Idea network has approximately 375 million subscribers and is the Third largest mobile telecommunications network in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airtel Africa</span> African subsidiary of Airtel, providing telecommunications and mobile money services

Airtel Africa plc, commonly known as (d/b/a) Airtel, is a Indian multinational company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, primarily in East, Central and West Africa. Airtel Africa is majority owned by the Indian telecommunications company Bharti Airtel. Airtel Africa offers mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services both nationally and internationally. Airtel Nigeria is the most profitable unit of Airtel Africa, due to its cheap data plans in Nigeria. As of March 2019, Airtel had over 99 million subscribers in the continent. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airtel India</span> Indian telecommunications company

Airtel India commonly known as Airtel, is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers. Currently, Airtel provides 4G and 4G+ services all over India and 5G service in selected cities. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vodafone Idea</span> Indian telecommunications company

Vodafone Idea or Vi is an Indian mobile network operator with its headquarters based in Mumbai and Gandhinagar. It is an all-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE Advanced, VoLTE, and VoWiFi service. As of 31 June 2023, Vi has a subscriber base of 221.4 million, making it third largest mobile telecommunications network in India and 11th largest mobile telecommunications network in the world. The company was created on 31 August 2018 by the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, to form a new entity named Vodafone Idea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idea Cellular</span> Former Indian telecommunications company

Idea Cellular (commonly referred to as Idea was an Indian mobile network operator based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. Idea was a pan-India integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018. Idea Cellular merged with Vodafone India and is now known as Vodafone Idea or Vi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Company Profile". Bharti Infratel. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Board of Directors". Bharti Infratel. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Bharti Infratel Annual Report 2019-20" (PDF). Bharti Airtel. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Investor Relations - Bharti Infratel". www.bharti-infratel.com. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Bharti Infratel, Indus Towers merger done; VIL sells Indus stake for ₹3,760 cr". mint. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  6. ↑ "India's Bharti says to spin off towers business". Reuters. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "No immediate plan for listing of Bharti Infratel: Gupta". Moneycontrol. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "UPDATE 1-India's Bharti Infratel prices IPO, raising about $764 mln". Reuters. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  9. ↑ "Bharti Infratel fixes IPO price at Rs 220, raises Rs 4,118 cr". www.business-standard.com. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  10. ↑ Wadhwa, Puneet (31 July 2020). "Zee Ent, GAIL India, Bharti Infratel may be excluded from Nifty: Report". Business Standard India. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Nifty rejig: Vedanta, Zee, Bharti Infratel and GAIL may be excluded in next review". Moneycontrol. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Indus Towers". sec.gov.
  13. ↑ "Bharti Infratel, Indus merger complete; VIL gets ₹3,760 cr in cash for 11.15% holding in Indus". The Hindu. 20 November 2020. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Kundu, Navadha Pandey,Rhik (25 April 2018). "Infratel, Indus merge to form a tower giant". mint. Retrieved 21 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "Merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers: creating a listed pan-India tower company". Vodafone.com. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger may finally go through: Here's what the deal could look like". cnbctv18.com. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Leo, Leroy (23 April 2020). "Lockdown delays Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger, deal postponed for 4th time". Livemint. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  18. ↑ "DOT approves merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel". Deccan Herald. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  19. ↑ "Vodafone Idea to divest stake in Indus Towers after Infratel merger". Moneycontrol. July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "Vodafone lenders approve merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel". The Economic Times. 5 October 2020. ISSN   0013-0389 . Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "Bharti Infratel, Indus Towers complete merger process". www.thehindubusinessline.com. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  22. ↑ Gupta, Deepali; Barman, Arijit. "Bharti Infratel ringing in a merger with Indus to create world's largest telco". The Economic Times. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.