

Bharti Airtel’s Africa rejig positive. All eyes now on capital allocation
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The Street keenly awaited Bharti Airtel’s board meeting outcome on Wednesday, more for its agenda of Africa telecom business ownership restructuring rather than the March quarter (Q4FY26) results announcement. Investors heaved a sigh of relief as the exercise simplifies the holding structure of Africa telecom business.
Bharti Airtel’s shares were up 5% on Thursday to ₹1,883.50.Bharti Airtel and its promoter group, through Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), hold 62.73% and 16.31% stakes in Airtel Africa Plc. Bharti Airtel will buy out ICIL’s stake at a 11.6% discount to Airtel Africa’s last closing price, effectively at GBP 3.66 apiece.Importantly, there won’t be any cash outflow.
The consideration of ₹28,220 crore will be paid by issuing 146.76 million shares of Bharti Airtel to ICIL at ₹1,923, which is far above Wednesday’s closing price of ₹1,789.20. This will mean equity dilution of 2.4% for Bharti Airtel, but it would be marginally earnings per share (EPS) accretive.While the transaction structure does ease investor concerns, worries about capital allocation persist.
Note that the Bharti Airtel stock has been under pressure ever since it announced its entry into NBFC business on 23 February. The stock was at ₹1,997 before the announcement and has been gradually losing ground, suggesting investors are not enthused by this diversification.In the Q4FY26 earnings call, chairman Sunil Mittal said it must be noted that Bharti Airtel is entering the NBFC business in “a small and controlled manner”.
It intends to hold 70% stake in the NBFC with a planned investment of ₹14,000 crore in phases. The balance 30% stake will be held by Bharti Airtel’s promoters.Meanwhile, Q4FY26 results do
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