Bharti Airtel to increase stake in Airtel Africa

Wed, 13th May 2026 13:39

(Sharecast News) - Airtel Africa tumbled on Wednesday after shareholder Bharti Airtel said its board had approved the issuance of up to 146.7m shares to Indian Continent Investment in exchange for up to 16.3% of Airtel Africa shares.

Bharti - which has a 63% stake in the telecoms and mobile money services provider - said in a filing that the shares will be issued at 1,923 rupees each, which totals up to 282.2bn rupees.

Bharti said the transaction is in line with its objective of "consolidating/ strengthening its shareholding in a strategic subsidiary".

Bharti said the cashless and leverage-neutral transaction is accretive to earnings per share of Airtel India, with additional earnings outweighing the dilution.

At 1400 BST, Airtel Africa shares were down 5.2% at 392.40p, having surged on Monday after Bharti said it was considering lifting its stake.

Airtel Africa