No tower unit IPO this fiscal: Bharti Airtel

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel, India’s top mobile phone carrier, is not likely to launch an initial public offer for its tower unit in the current financial year that ends in March, a top executive said on Friday.

“There are no immediate plans but on a long-term basis I have always said these companies should, at an appropriate time go and get listed,” Akhil Gupta, deputy group CEO at the mobile operator’s parent and a director on Bharti Airtel’s board, told reporters.

“I would think that this fiscal year definitely it cannot happen,” he said.

[caption id=“attachment_96599” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal had said in early September they were yet to take a decision on the tower unit’s IPO. Reuters”] [/caption]

Sources had told Reuters in July that Bharti Infratel, the mobile phone carrier’s telecoms tower arm, was looking at a minimum $500 million IPO, for which it was expected to file regulatory papers in September or October.

Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal had said in early September they were yet to take a decision on the tower unit’s IPO.'

Reuters