Vodafone Group, Thursday announced that it has exited Bharti Airtel by selling its 4.2% stake in the Operator for USD 200 million, as a result from changes in the competition law governing the telecom sector in India. Vodafone has to sell its entire stake in Bharti Airtel following new norms issued by government that bars a Telecom Operator from holding any kind of stake in competition under unified licenses. The move by Vodafone saw Airtel Bharti's share price increasing 5.98% in a single day, yesterday.
Vodafone in a statement said that, "The disposal follows the new unified licence regime in India published by the Department of Telecoms which prohibits the holding by a group of an interest in more than one licensee company in the same service area."
Vodafone had acquired its stake in Bharti Airtel under the previous licensing regime, Unified Access Service Licence (UASL), or 2G licenses, under which telecom companies are permitted to hold up to 9.9 per cent stake in other firms.
