Bharti Infratel raises Rs 652 cr from 18 anchor investors

Bharti Airtel's tower business unit Bharti Infratel has received Rs 651.7 crore from 18 anchor investors, including Morgan Stanley and Sundaram MF, ahead of the Rs 4,500-crore public offer which opens tomorrow.

The company has priced shares for the anchor investors at Rs 230 a piece and allocated 2.83 crore shares (15 per cent of the issue size) to them, Bharti Infratel said in a statement today.

The anchor investors include AllianceBernstein, Battery March, Clough capital, Columbia Wagner, Morgan Stanley, Route One Capital, Sundaram MF, Wellington among others, it added.

The Sunil Bharti Mittal led-company plans to raise Rs 4,533.60 crore, biggest from public issue in two years after state-run Coal India's offer in October 2010.

The issue comprising 18.89 crore equity shares will open for retail investors tomorrow in the price band of Rs 210-240 per share. The issue will close on December 14.

At the upper end of the price band, Bharti Infratel would raise about Rs 4,533.60 crore, while at the lower end it could end up with Rs 3,966.90 crore.

IPO comprises a fresh issue of about 14.62 crore equity shares, and an offer for sale of over 4.26 crore equity shares by some shareholders.

The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

Bharti Airtel, which owns about 86 per cent of Bharti Infratel, is not participating in the share sale.

The company has said the proceeds from the IPO will be used to fund its expansion and future acquisitions.

Success of this IPO would be critical for the market, which has seen drying up of public offers due to subdued sentiment and slowing economy for over a year.

The joint book running lead managers to the issue are DSP Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan India, Standard Chartered Securities (India) and UBS Securities India.

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