Bharti Airtel plans to sell its Bangladesh and Sri Lanka operations and has hired two bankers to conduct the transaction, Indian TV channel CNBC-TV18 reports. According to the same source, Bharti Airtel plans to first sell its tower business, and then the entire operation at a later time. The move is in line with Airtel’s strategy of eliminating unproductive operations.

 

Bharti Airtel initially sought buyers for its operations in the two countries in 2012/13, but it was too early to attract any buyer then. Etisalat and Orange have already sent their expressions of interest to buy the telecom business, the report added.

 

Airtel Bangladesh CEO PD Sarma dismissed the report as speculative. “I have talked with my group officials and these are all speculative”, he told The Daily Star.

 

According to Airtel Bangladesh representatives, Airtel Bangladesh has 4,000 towers and created a separate company for its tower business. The unit has not started operations yet, they said.

 

On 28 August, the Bombay Stock Exchange requested clarification from Bharti Airtel about the possible sale of these operations. The operator said “Bharti Airtel keeps evaluating various opportunities, on an ongoing basis in ordinary course of business”.

(telecompaper.com)