Vodafone has sold its 4.2 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel for $200 million. The stake has been bought by Bharti Enterprise, the holding company of Airtel.
"Vodafone confirms that it has sold, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, its shareholding in Bharti Infotel Private Ltd, representing an approximate 4.2% interest in Bharti Airtel Ltd, to Bharti Enterprises (Holding) Private Ltd for $200m. The disposal follows the new unified licence regime in India published by the Department of Telecom, which prohibits the holding by a group of an interest in more than one licensee company in the same service area," Vodafone said in a statement.
The move follows changes in the unified licence regime which barred a single entity from holding stake in two different telecom service operating companies. Earlier, up to 10 per cent stake was allowed. Vodafone has picked 10 per cent stake in Airtel in 2005. Part of this was sold in 2007.