S&R Associates represented Vodafone Group when it sold its stake in Bharti Airtel to conform to regulatory requirements. Shares of Bharti Infotel which represented a 4.2% interest in Bharti Airtel were sold to Bharti Enterprises for US$200 million. The team from S&R Associates was led by Mumbai-based partner Rajat Sethi and comprised associates Tanya Aggarwal and Lakshmi Pradeep.
Bharti Infotel was represented by a team from AZB & Partners headed by Gautam Saha.
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Vodafone’s exit from Bharti Airtel was prompted by a unified telecom licence regime that came into effect in August 2013. It prohibits telecommunication service providers from holding any beneficial stake in another operator in the service areas where they operate.
Vodafone had acquired a 10% stake in Bharti Airtel in 2005 and sold a part of it in 2007 after it acquired Hutchison Essar, which is now Vodafone India. Under the previous unified access service licence regime, telecom companies were permitted to hold up to a 9.9% stake in other firms.
Bharti Airtel has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.
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