Bharti Airtel boosts equity share capital by allotting FCCB holders

Airtel boosts equity: Bharti Airtel, on Friday, announced its decision to allocate 38.6 lakh equity shares to specific FCCB holders at a conversion price of Rs 518 per equity share, following the receipt of conversion notices from Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) holders with a principal value of $27,795,000.

The company disclosed the increase in its paid-up equity share capital as a result of this allotment. The telco's committee of directors for fundraising granted approval for the allotment of shares to FCCB holders in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The filing stated, "Upon receipt of notices for conversion of FCCBs of principal value of $27,795,000 from certain FCCB holder(s), the Special Committee of Directors for Fund Raising has, today, that is, on February 1, 2024, approved the allotment of 3,864,800 fully paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 5 each at a conversion price of Rs 518 per equity share to such holder(s) of FCCBs."

Debt instruments

FCCBs serve as debt instruments for raising funds from the overseas market. Bondholders have the option to convert their holdings into stocks. The specific FCCBs referred to in this announcement relate to the $1,000 million, 1.50 percent convertible bonds due in 2025.

The outstanding principal value of FCCBs, as listed on the Singapore Exchange, has now been reduced to $527.036 million, as stated in the filing. Simultaneously, the paid-up equity share capital of Bharti Airtel has increased to Rs 28,634,347,687.50, divided into 5,628,797,622 fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each and 392,287,662 partly paid-up equity shares of Rs 5 each.

(with PTI inputs)