Singapore Telecommunications on Monday said it will buy new shares in Bharti Telecom - the holding company of its Indian associate Bharti Airtel for S$555.6 million.
The purchase will be through Singtel's wholly-owned subsidiary Singtel International Investments, which will be allotted up to 85.5 million shares in Bharti Telecom for Rs 310 per share, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Bharti Telecom is the holding company of Bharti Airtel and holds about 50.1 percent of the share capital of Bharti Airtel.
Also Read: Keppel Corp's former key executives arrested in corruption probe
The deal will increase Singtel's stake in Bharti Telecom by up to 1.7 percent while Singtel's interest in Bharti Airtel will increase by 0.9 percentage point to 39.5 percent.
"While there are currently headwinds in India, we take a long-term view of our investment in Airtel which continues to be a strong market leader in a region with rapidly increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data adoption," Arthur Lang, Singtel's CEO International said in a statement.
Bharti Airtel is India's largest telecommunications company with operations in 16 countries across South Asia and Africa and a customer base of over 390 million. It has been an associate of the Group since Singtel acquired a stake in 2000.
