Sunil Mittal sells $976M in Bharti Airtel shares

Indian billionaire and Bharti Enterprises chairperson Sunil Mittal (pictured) has sold US$976 million worth of Bharti Airtel shares as he looks to secure funds for other ventures.

According to Bloomberg, Mittal’s company, Indian Continental Investment – a founding entity of Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator – sold 51 million shares (0.84%) for INR 84.85 billion (US$976 million).

Around a quarter of these shares were sold to holding company Bharti Telecom, while the remainder went to GQG Partners LLC, Fidelity Investments, Lazard Inc., SBI Life Insurance Co., and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co., sources told Bloomberg.

The share sale disclosure follows Bharti Airtel’s strong financial performance, including a 460.9% year-on-year surge in net profit, driven by growth in its Indian mobile business and investments in African markets.

Mittal is also invested in UK-based satellite company OneWeb, after Bharti Enterprises acquired a 24.5% stake from BT Group last year.

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