Sunil Mittal led telco, Bharti Airtel seeks to refinance high-cost debt and fortify its balance sheet ahead of the 5G spectrum auction. This initiative is a part of the Rs 7,500 crore fundraising plan announced by the company recently. It is also evaluating two other options- an offshore bond issue and a rupee load from local banks, said a source.
A senior executive of Bharti Airtel stated, “The Rupee linked corporate bonds will multiply with multiple tenors in range of 3 to 10 years”. Also there is a possibility of dollar bond floatation in offshore markets in the latter part of April-June quarter. Airtel further stated that Rs 7,500 crore will be raised for refinancing through issuance of secured/unsecured, listed/unlisted non convertible debt securities.
Last September, Crisil Ratings had upgraded its long-term rating on Bharti Airtel bank loan facilities and debt programme to AA+stable to AAstable , reflecting an improvement. The ratings firm further added that it expects a further improvement in the months to come. The mobile carrier’s latest fundraising plan comes after the US tech giant Google said that it would invest upto $1 billion in Bharti Airtel.
Google will further invest $700 million for 1.28% stake in Bharti Airtel and the balance $300 million over 5 years towards commercial pacts to make smartphones, affordable to 4G upgrades and also develop network domain 5G use cases. Airtel recently floated Rs 21,000 crore rights issue, proceeds of which will be used to spruce up its balance sheet and also for the upcoming 5G spectrum to be launced around April-May. It has also raised approximately Rs 5,247 crore in the 1 st tranche of the rights issue and the rest will be garnered once it decides to make the two additional calls.