Vodafone to sell Bharti's Stake
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Bangalore: Vodafone has put its indirect holding in India's Bharti Airtel up for sale in a move which could raise $2 billion for the company. Vodafone currently owns 4.39 percent of Bharti Airtel, reports Cellular News. Vodafone brought an indirect 4.39 percent stake in Bharti Airtel through Bharti Enterprises and a 5.61 percent direct stake from private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, giving it a 10 percent stake in the company for $1.5 billion. Vodafone then reduced its holding by selling the direct stake to the Bharti Group for $1.6 billion after it brought a controlling stake in rival operator, Hutchison Essar in 2007. "No company will be happy with a small minority stake in another entity. If anybody is interested in buying our stake, we are for it," Vodafone's CEO Vittorio Colao told Economic Times on Friday. Colao declined to say if Vodafone had held talks with prospective buyers, and also refused to comment on the speculation that SingTel was interested in buying Vodafone's stake in Bharti. Vodafone would also consider listing its Indian arm, Vodafone Essar, after 2010, said Colao, who succeeded India-born Arun Sarin as CEO last July. The listing will be dependent on whether the Essar Group exercises its option to sell its 33 percent stake to Vodafone in the 12 month window from May 2010.

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