Airtel To Complete Stake Sale By Nov 2008

Bharti Airtel will complete acquisition of its 5.6 per cent stake held by British telecom giant Vodafone, by November next year for $1.6 billion. Vodafone had bought 10 per cent stake in Airtel in 2005 in an all-cash deal aggregating to about $1.5 billion. According to DoT''s licence norms, no single promoter can have more than 10 per cent stake in two different companies in the same circle (area of operation by cellular companies is divided into circles). Vodafone, following the acquisition of Hutchison Telecom International''s (HTIL) Indian holding in telecom service provider Hutch-Essar, would soon start its operations in India and compete with Bharti Airtel in almost all circles. The shareholding would be transferred in two tranches, the first before 31 March 2008 and the second by November 2008. This move comes after two Vodafone directors, Gavin Darby and Paul Donovan, on the board of Bharti Airtel resigned on 24 May, following the takeover of Hutch-Essar.