Bharti Airtel rings loud on the buzz of plan to sell over 15,000 towers in Africa

Bharti Airtel is currently trading at Rs. 358.10, up by 4.65 points or 1.32% from its previous closing of Rs. 353.45 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 355.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 359.70 and Rs. 351.50 respectively. So far 214992 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A ' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 373.50 on 01-Nov-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 274.50 on 11-Jun-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 366.25 and Rs. 335.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 142087.59 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 65.32% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 24.17% and 10.51% respectively. In a bid to reduce debt, Bharti Airtel is reportedly planning to sell over 15,000 towers in Africa for about $2-3 billion. In this regard, the company has shortlisted four companies for the sale including Helios Towers Africa, American Tower Corporation and Eaton Towers. The net debt of the company at the end of March 31, 2014 stood at Rs 60,541.6 crore. The company has also been raising money through foreign currency bonds in order to reduce debt. In May, it raised around $2 billion in a dual currency international bond sale. Airtel had entered the African market in 2010 after acquiring Zain Telecom for about $10.7 billion. The company now offers services in 17 African countries but is yet to turn profitable. Bharti Airtel is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.