Bharti Airtel surges 7.8% on ‘cash-free’ deal with Tata Group’s cellphone unit
Mumbai — Bharti Airtel surged the most in five months after it announced it had agreed to absorb Tata Group’s cellphone business in a "cash-free" transaction, shaking up one of the world’s most crowded wireless markets. The stock advanced 7.8% to 431.60 rupees, the most since May 10, after India’s largest cellphone operator said it will get Tata Teleservices’s airwaves and 40-million customers in a "debt-free, cash-free" merger. Tata will settle past liabilities to pave the way for Bharti, led by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal, to complete what it described as effectively a merger, according to a statement issued on Thursday. Tata will finalise the structure of the deal in the next five weeks, Tata Group chief financial officer Saurabh Agrawal said in an interview on Thursday. "The consideration we’re getting is that instead of closing down the business, we are taking care of every stakeholder," said Agrawal at Tata’s Mumbai headquarters. "Frankly, this business should have been re...
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