Bharti Airtel is reportedly in discussions with Vodafone Plc to acquire a further stake in telecom towers company Indus Towers

What Happened: Airtel is looking to buy another 3% stake from Vodafone, and the latter is likely to use the cash to pay off its dues to Indus, CNBC TV18 reported, citing sources. Airtel’s shareholding can go up to 52% in Indus Towers.

The block deal will reportedly exclude promoters from the lock-in period.

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Last week, Bharti Airtel acquired an additional 1% stake in Indus Towers. At the same time, Vodafone Group sold a stake in block deals that resulted in 20% equity in the company changing hands.

Following this stake acquisition, Bharti Airtel plans to merge Indus Towers with its data centre business Nxtra. This merger is expected to provide an exit for the private equity investor Carlyle, the business news portal reported.

Price Action: Bharti Airtel’s share price was trading 0.3% lower at ₹1,411.85, while Vodafone Idea’s share price was down 0.41% at ₹17.07 and Indus Tower’s share price eased 0.49% to ₹334.80.

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