Countries leading telco Bharti Airtel announced a new corporate structure under which group firm Airtel Digital Ltd will merge into the listed entity Bharti Airtel.
Under the new structure, Bharti Airtel, housing the digital assets, becomes the holding company of separate units – telecom business under Airtel, Airtel Payments Bank, international businesses including Airtel Africa and infrastructure business under Nxtra and Indus.
Commenting on the development, the company said in a statement that the new structure envisages Airtel Digital Ltd folding into the listed entity, Bharti Airtel.
“This will encompass Wynk Music, Airtel Xstream, Airtel Thanks app, Mitra payments platform, Airtel Ads, Airtel IQ, Airtel Secure, Airtel Cloud and all future digital products and services,” states the company.
Strategic investor
Analysts said the move would help the group attract strategic and financial investors as well as scale up its digital business. The company expects to increase the digital business revenue to more than Rs 1,000 crore .
However, Airtel Payments Bank will remain a separate entity under Bharti Airtel and work closely with the growing customer base to play a pivotal role in realising the digital opportunity that payments and financial services provides,” the company said in the statement.
Expressing happiness over the new development, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal said that, the new structure would set the ‘’exciting future course’’ for the group and provide focus on four distinct businesses – digital, India, international and infrastructure in a ‘’razor-sharp’’ way.
Digital ambition
’We believe this will provide agility, expertise and operational rigour to serve our customers brilliantly while providing flexibility to unlock value for our shareholders. This structure will serve us well over the coming years and is a win-win for all stakeholders,” Sunil Mittal said.
Stating that its digital ambition is closely intertwined with the spine that provides connectivity across the country, the company said it intended to house all telecom businesses in a newly created entity, Airtel Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited.
