Warburg Pincus sells 0.32 per cent stake in Airtel for Rs 16.49 billion (India)

Warburg Pincus has divested its 0.32 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for Rs 16.49 billion through an open market transaction. According to block deal data on the Bom­bay Stock Exchange, Lion Meadow In­ves­tment Limited, an affiliate of War­burg Pin­c­us, has sold 19,000,000 shares of Air­tel, amounting to a 0.32 per cent stake in the company. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 868 per share, taking the ag­gregate transaction value to Rs 16.49 billi­on. They were purchas­ed in 11 tranches by affiliates of the US-ba­sed Capital Group.

Jio to secure $1.6 billion loan

Reliance Jio is in discussions to secure a lo­an of approximately $1.6 billion to fund eq­uipment purchases from Nokia. Addi­ti­o­nally, the operator is in talks with global ba­nks to raise around $1-$1.5 billion thro­ugh an offshore syndicated loan to buy 5G network gear from Ericsson. Banks invol­ved in the discussions include Citigroup In­c­or­po­rated, HSBC Holdings Public Limi­ted Co­mpany and JPMorgan Chase & Company.

Vi proposes equity infusion of Rs 140 billion

Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has proposed an equity infusion of Rs 140 billion as part of its business revival plan. The plan in­clu­des contributions from the company’s promoters, the Aditya Birla Group and Voda­fone Group Public Limited Company. Since the introduction of the government’s telecom revival pac­ka­ge in September 2021, promoters have in­­vested Rs 50 billion, and will invest another Rs 20 billion as fresh equity. Further, promoters will collaborate with the company to raise an additional Rs 70 billion from external investors, either through direct equity or convertible structures.

Airtel to acquire 12.07 per cent stake in Egan Solar Power

Bharti Airtel will acquire 12.07 per cent (283,400 equity shares) of Egan Solar Pri­vate Limited. The acquisition aligns with the objectives of the regulations governing captive power plants, as specified under the Electricity Act of 2004 and the In­dian Electricity Rules of 2005, which all­ow Airtel to procure cost-effective re­newable energy resources.

Cisco to acquire Accedian to expand its network assurance portfolio

Cisco has announced plans to acquire Ac­cedian to expand its network assurance po­rtfolio. Through this acquisition, the company aims to address the increasing need for stringent performance requirements and offer real-time actionable in­sights of communication service providers and webscalers. Additionally, Cisco has an­nounced its intention to acquire Sam­Kn­ows, a Lo­n­don-based broadband net­wo­rk monitoring firm. The acquisition will improve Cisco ThousandEyes’ industry-leading mo­nito­r­ing of global internet health.

Tanla Platforms acquires ValueFirst from Twilio for Rs 3.46 billion

Tanla Platforms Limited has signed a def­initive share purchase agreement to acqu­ire 100 per cent of ValueFirst Digital Me­dia Private Limited from US-based Twilio for an all-cash consideration of Rs 3.46 billion. This acquisition is subject to up­ward closing adjustments in the $2.5 million-$3.5 million ra­nge. Tanla has also signed a bi­n­d­ing term sh­eet to acquire 100 per cent of ValueFirst Middle East FZC for a cumulative consideration of Rs 200 million th­ro­ugh a combi­na­tion of primary investments and secon­dary purchase from ex­isting sha­­reholders.

World Bank Group, IFC and MIGA make equity investments in Safaricom Ethiopia (Ethiopia)

The World Bank Group, the International Fi­nance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) have announced plans to make an equity investment in Safaricom Ethiopia, alongside providing loans to the operator. Under this deal, the World Bank will provide equity, debt and insurance facilities to support the construction and operation of Safaricom Ethiopia’s 4G and 5G mobile net­works. Meanwhile, IFC will make a $157.4 million equity investment in Sa­fa­ri­com Ethiopia’s parent company, Global Partnership for Ethiopia, and will also provide a $100 million “A-loan” to the operator. Following the transaction, IFC will ho­ld a minority position in Safaricom Ethi­opia. Additionally, MIGA will provide a 10-year guarantee of $1 billion to cover the equity investments made by the current sh­areholders of Safaricom Ethiopia, namely, Vodafone Group, Vodacom, Safaricom and British International Investment.

The Singtel Group signs $1.1 billion rolling credit facility with 11 lenders (Singapore)

The Singtel Group has secured an SGD 1.5 billion credit facility wi­th 11 banks, including ANZ Group Hol­di­ngs, Bank of America and the Industrial and Commer­cial Bank of China. The company has stated that the funds will be utilised for general corporate purposes.

Globe Telecom raises $1.73 billion from tower sales (Philippines)

Globe Telecom’s mobile to­wer sale and leaseback programme has generated total proceeds of PHP 96.32 billion through the sale and leaseback of its telecom towers. The opera­t­or confirmed that the sale of non-strategic infrastructure has now topped over 7,500 assets, bringing the project closer to the upper th­reshold of its divestment plan. Further­more, Globe has successfully transferred 44 per cent or 3,120 of the total 7,059 assets acquired by tower companies, generating approximately PHP 40.5 billion in proceeds.