Bharti Airtel sets April 24 as record date for Rs 25,000 cr rights issue

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has fixed April 24 as the 'record date' to determine shareholders eligible to apply for the equity shares in the upcoming Rs 25,000 crore rights issue. In a regulatory filing, Airtel said the committee (Special Committee of Directors for Fund Raising) at its meeting held on Wednesday "has fixed the record date for the purpose of determining the shareholders eligible to apply for the equity shares in the rights issue on Wednesday, April 24, 2019".

Bharti Airtel is learnt to have already received market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi's) approval for the rights issue. The board of the company had approved the rights issue proposal in February. Airtel has announced rights issue to raise up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of fully paid up shares at a price of Rs 220 per share, and an additional Rs 7,000 crore via foreign currency perpetual bond issue.

The company had said the capital infusion will help it continue investments in future rollouts to build large network capacity and create content and technology partnerships to ensure the strong customer experience.

Last month, Airtel received commitment from its single-largest shareholder Singtel, promoters, and GIC Singapore to participate in the Rs 32,000 crore capital raising programme.

Singapore telecom major SingTel said it will infuse Rs 3,750 crore in Bharti Airtel by subscribing to the proposed Rs 25,000 crore rights issue of the company, while GIC Private Limited, on behalf of Singapore government and Monetary Authority of Singapore, has made a commitment of Rs 5,000 crore in the proposed programme.

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Indian telecom players, including Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd, have embarked on mega fund raising programmes to arm themselves with firepower to take on market competition intensified by Reliance Jio as well as pare debt.