Bharti Airtel has said that it will acquire a Warburg Pincus affiliate’s 20 per cent equity stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for around INR 3,126. Crore(US$43.00) which will be paid primarily via issuance of around 36.47 million equity shares of Airtel at a price of INR 600 per share; and up to INR 10,378 million in cash.

Bharti Airtel has said that it will acquire a Warburg Pincus affiliate’s 20 per cent equity stake in its DTH arm Bharti Telemedia for around INR 3,126 Crore which will be paid primarily via issuance of around 36.47 million equity shares of Airtel at a price of INR 600 per share; and up to INR 10,378 million in cash.

The issuance of shares proposed through preferential allotment is subject to shareholders’ approval, the company said on Wednesday.

In another statement, Airtel said its Board of Directors, has constituted a ‘Special Committee of Directors’ to consider and evaluate in detail, various options (or combination thereof) for re-organisation of businesses and shareholding structure of the Company and its various subsidiaries to achieve required flexibility and sharper focus on digital and non-telecom businesses of the Company to enable any unlocking of enhanced value for its stakeholders.

India’s telecom sector, in the efforts of enabling policies including more quantum of the spectrum, is set to establish new benchmarks in the next-generation network deployments and service delivery.

“The Special Committee shall place its suitable recommendations to the Board for consideration and/ or approval,” the company said.

The proposed transaction with Warburg is part of Airtel’s strategy to align the shareholding of its customer facing products, services and businesses under the same holding group. A full control and ownership over Bharti Telemedia allows Airtel to offer differentiated and converged solutions to customers so as to promote “One Home” strategy.