Bharti Airtel board meet on February 17, to discuss future strategic plans

Bharti Airtel’s board is slated to meet on February 17 to discuss “future strategic plans and reorganisation of shareholding framework” of its subsidiaries, the telecom operator said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.

The strategic plan may result in consolidation or acquisition of shares of its subsidiary companies, the payment for which may be made through the issuance of equity shares on a preferential basis and/or cash, Airtel further stated.

“We wish to inform you that a meeting of Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, to discuss the future strategic plans and the reorganisation of shareholding framework of subsidiary company (ies), which may result in consolidation/acquisition of shares of subsidiary company (ies) that concentrate of which may be discharged through issuance of equity shares of the Company (ies) on a preference basis and/cash preferential basis”, the telco said in a statement on BSE.

Airtel’s board had on February 3 approved raising Rs 7,500 crore via debt instruments such as bonds and debentures in one or more instalments.

The development regarding the telco’s fundraising comes as it prepares for upcoming spectrum auctions slated to begin in March as well as the rollout of the company’s 5G wireless service later this year.

Airtel had recently reported a net profit of Rs 854 crore for the third quarter ended December 2020, compared to a Rs 1,035 crore loss in the year-ago period, on the back of improved realisations and strong customer addition. Business Today