Bharti Airtel

Aug 17 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL - AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK ANNOUNCES BOARD TRANSITION; SHABNAM SINHA TO SUCCEED SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL AS CHAIRPERSON

• BHARTI AIRTEL - SHABNAM SINHA WILL ASSUME THE ROLE OF CHAIRPERSON OF AIRTEL PAYMENTS BANK LIMITED FOR A THREE YEAR TERM BEGINNING OCTOBER 1, 2026

Source text: ID:nPLXN6MPX4

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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Aug 10 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL - AIRTEL BUSINESS AND ITI LIMITED ENTER INTO STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

• BHARTI AIRTEL - PARTNERSHIP TO HELP ENTERPRISES MODERNIZE, SECURE, AND SCALE OPERATIONS

Source text: ID:nnAZN4TCXPV

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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By Bharath Rajeswaran

Aug 7 (Reuters) - India's market outlook is strengthening as bank credit growth reaches its fastest pace in more than a decade, foreign equity inflows return and central bank measures support the rupee, according to Jefferies.

"There are some positives to be aware of as regards the Indian domestic story," Christopher Wood, Jefferies' global head of equity strategy, said in his latest GREED & fear note published on Friday.

Against this backdrop, Jefferies has reshaped its India long-only portfolio. HDFC Bank HDBK.NS, India's largest private lender and the heaviest stock in benchmark indexes, is being removed alongside PolicyBazaar-owner PB Fintech PBFI.NS.

MCX MCEI.NS and Lenskart Solutions LENS.NS will replace them, while REC RECM.NS makes way for Bajaj Finance BJFN.NS. Eternal's ETEA.NS allocation rises by one percentage point, funded by a reduction in Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS.

Foreign investors bought a net $2.12 billion of domestic equities in July as India benefited from the unwind out of the memory chip trade. However, they remain net sellers for the year, with outflows totaling $25.86 billion, according to National Securities Depository.

The more important signal, Wood said, is the acceleration in domestic lending, which has climbed to 17–18% year-on-year, led by corporate lending of about 20%. Loans to agriculture and retail borrowers are also expanding at healthy rates, underscoring broad-based demand.

Policy-driven inflows are adding a macro cushion. The Reserve Bank of India's foreign-currency inflow scheme, including non-resident deposits, external commercial borrowings and foreign-currency bonds, had mobilized about $41 billion by the end of July, and Jefferies expects inflows to reach $80 billion–$100 billion by the September 30 deadline.

The removal of tax on interest income on foreign purchases of government bonds has also generated $8.7 billion in net inflows since early June, per exchange data.

"All this increases the likelihood that the rupee should stabilise," Wood said. The currency recovered to 95.17 per U.S. dollar, as of July 31, from a low of 96.96 in May.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)

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Aug 5 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• INDIA'S BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: HEADROOM FOR GROWTH CONTINUES TO BE HIGH IN AFRICA BUSINESS

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: HANDSET UPGRADES, RISING DATA USAGE, 5G ADOPTION PROVIDE MEANINGFUL HEADROOM FOR EXPANSION

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: SEE REASONABLE HEADROOM FOR ARPU GROWTH IN MEDIUM TERM

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: RISING GLOBAL MEMORY, CHIPSET PRICES CHALLENGED FWA ECONOMICS

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: SEEING IMPROVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL ROAMING, WITH REPAIR IN INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: INVESTMENTS INTO AFRICA WILL CONTINUE TO STEP UP

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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Adds details paragraph 3 onwards

August 4 (Reuters) - India's second-largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS posted a 37.3% rise in first quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by subscriber additions and users upgrading to costlier plans.

The company's consolidated net profit rose to 81.67 billion rupees ($856.28 million) for the quarter ended June 30, from 59.48 billion rupees a year ago.

India's telecom operators have been relying on users upgrading to higher-value plans to boost average revenue per user (ARPU) - a key telecom metric - with no broad-based tariff hikes since July 2024.

Airtel and market leader Reliance Jio RELJ.NS revised select recharge plans and expanded premium offerings to encourage higher spending and migration to 4G and 5G services.

Airtel's industry-leading ARPU rose 5.6% year-on-year to 264 rupees during the first quarter, helped by a 7.5% increase in its 4G and 5G user base.

India's telecom sector has witnessed intense competition since Jio's entry in 2016, with the Reliance unit overtaking peers to command the country's largest user base.

Some analysts expect another round of tariff increases of 12%–15% in the coming months, which could provide a further boost to the industry ARPU.

Airtel's India user base grew 12.8% year-on-year to about 492 million as of June 30, lagging behind Jio's 533.3 million.

Revenue from Airtel's AfricaAAF.L business, which operates in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa and accounts for over a quarter of group revenue, rose 45.4%.

Its overall revenue rose 18.4% to 585.39 billion indian rupees ($6.14 billion), above analysts' expectation of 573.1 billion rupees.

Last month, rival Jio reported a 6.8% rise in quarterly profit. Smaller rival Vodafone Idea VODA.NS has yet to post results.

($1 = 95.3775 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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BENGALURU, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Diary of India economic, corporate events on Aug 3

ECONOMIC, CORPORATE .BSE500 EVENTS:

NTS - 'No time scheduled'

(Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)

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NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) - The Indian government has extended a mobile internet shutdown in central Delhi until midnight on Friday, two industry sources told Reuters, as thousands converged on the area for protests demanding the education minister's resignation over exam paper leaks.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh)

(([email protected]; X: @sakshi_dayal;))

Adds details

NEW DELHI, July 23 (Reuters) - The Indian government has ordered telecom companies to disable mobile data services in central parts of the capital Delhi, in and around the site of youth protests seeking the resignation of the education minister, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The companies have complied with the order, the sources said.

Spokespersons for the government and the telecom department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Top Indian telecom firms, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio RELI.NS, Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS and Vodafone-Idea VODA.NS, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

There was no mobile data connectivity in many parts of central Delhi on Thursday evening, Reuters journalists said. Vendors, shopkeepers and restaurants complained that they were unable to accept digital payments.

Protesters led by the "cockroach" movement have been camping in central Delhi since last month, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over exam paper leaks in May that affected some 2 million students.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by YP Rajesh)

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July 13 (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications STEL.SI said on Monday its unit, Viridian, had been placed under members' voluntary liquidation.

Here are some more details:

• Singtel, Southeast Asia's largest telecom firm, said it also appointed a liquidator to manage the winding up of the Mauritius-incorporated unit.

• The telecom firm said the winding up of Viridian is not expected to have any material impact on the group's net tangible assets or earnings per share.

• Viridian Group has historically served as a corporate holding vehicle within the Group's structure for managing equity holdings and investments — most notably its long-standing stake in Indian telecommunications giant Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS.

• Singtel, through units Pastel and Viridian, had disposed of a 3.3% stake in Bharti Airtel for S$2.54 billion ($1.97 billion) in August 2022.

• The Singapore-listed firm currently owns a 7.3% stake in Bharti Airtel, according to LSEG data.

($1 = 1.2917 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Aamir Shaik Khalid in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

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NEW DELHI, July 10 (Reuters) - Units in India's Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) will be exempt from the licensing requirement for chartering foreign vessels for export and import cargo movement, and international trade operations, the government said on Friday.

• GIFT city is being set up in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, in the country's west, and offers easier tax rules and regulations.

• It is being promoted by the government as a financial centre to rival Singapore and Dubai.

• The exemption from licensing is an effort to simplify the regulatory framework governing the chartering of foreign vessels for international shipping operations, the shipping ministry said in a statement.

• It is expected to promote maritime leasing, ship financing, and ship-owning activities through Gift City, it said.

• Reuters reported in May that telecom operator Bharti Airtel, U.S.-based Genpact, and autoparts giant ZF Friedrichshafen were among the companies setting up treasury operations in Gift City.

(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal and Tanvi Mehta, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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July 1 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• AIRTEL MONEY COMMENCES COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS AS TYPE II NON-DEPOSIT ACCEPTING NBFC

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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June 30 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL - DOT ASSAM IMPOSES PENALTY OF 620,000 RUPEES

Source text: ID:nPLX2MS0BF

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, June 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mukesh Ambani is making bold promises about connectivity. But he has already disappointed the A-list backers in his telecoms company. And the billionaire's latest pledges that the business will tighten its grip on India's data market and push into foreign ones deserve more scepticism from investors considering jumping into its upcoming initial public offering.

Jio Platforms' up to $3.8 billion share sale could be India’s largest listing on record. The company's prospectus filed late on Friday, though, confirmed the company would only be offering new stock. This means the outsiders led by Meta META.O, Alphabet’s GOOGL.O Google and KKR KKR.N which own a third of existing shares, will wait longer to crystallise tepid returns.

In 2020, they bought the promise that $188 billion Reliance Industries RELI.NS would transform Jio into a tech platform offering services from cloud computing to connected homes. Six years on, that target looks far from achieved: Jio still earns 94% of its profit from volume-led monetisation of its 524 million mobile subscribers. And although its 528-page prospectus waxes lyrical about its autonomous platforms and proprietary technology stack, Jio lags its main rival, $123 billion Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS, on basic measures, including EBITDA margins and average revenue per user.

That undercuts Ambani’s latest wide-ranging promises, including a vow to deepen his dominance of the home broadband market, where Jio caters to 43% of India's 64 million premium subscribers. He’s also touting venturing into satellite communications and unnamed markets overseas, including offering its AI engine, JioBrain, to other global telecoms companies.

Out of all of these, Jio's domestic ambitions look most within reach. That said, Indian regulators impose ceilings on some mobile tariffs and it is hard to grow a premium service like broadband in a market where most consumers are poor. Rules on net neutrality may also hamper Ambani's ability to offer business clients higher-yielding differentiated services.

Jio’s targeted $130 billion market capitalisation is already a big step down from the $180 billion price tag bullish analysts assigned it earlier this year before the Iran war knocked the rupee. But even this revised figure will require investors to pay a multiple of 35 times Jio’s earnings for 2027, per Visible Alpha estimates. Compare that to 30 times for Airtel, which already generates around one-third of its EBITDA outside of India.

There isn't anything compelling in the Jio filing to support a premium valuation. If Ambani wants his IPO to fly, he may need to trim his ambitions further.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Jio Platforms, the telecoms business of Reliance Industries, will raise up to $3.8 billion in a Mumbai initial public offering, which could be India's largest on record, Reuters reported on June 19, citing unnamed sources.

The offer will comprise up to 270 million new shares, equivalent to 2.9% of the total enlarged share count, Jio’s prospectus showed. The fundraising target implies a market capitalisation of $130 billion.

Proceeds will be used to repay subsidiary borrowings and general corporate purposes.

The deal has 19 book-running lead managers led by Kotak Mahindra and Morgan Stanley.

Jio is evaluating the development of a sovereign low earth orbit satellite constellation for India, Reliance Chair Mukesh Ambani said at the company's annual shareholder meeting on June 19.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

Adds fresh details on Jio IPO

MUMBAI, June 19 (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Platforms plans to raise around $3.8 billion via a Mumbai listing, sources say, in what could be the country's largest-ever initial public offering.

Here are facts and numbers on Jio Platforms, which houses the world's second-largest telecom company by users after China Mobile 600941.SS.

TELECOM BUSINESS

Reliance Jio Platforms is a unit of Ambani's oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries RELI.NS. It is most known for the telecom business - Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the country's biggest player with more than 500 million subscribers.

Launched in 2016, the telecom business, popularly just called Jio, hit rivals such as Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS and Vodafone Idea VODA.NS hard by offering free voice and data plans initially.

The move, in line with Ambani's typical strategy of offering ultra-low prices to lure consumers, drove up its customer base and allowed many Indians to access platforms such as YouTube and Facebook for the first time.

Jio says it currently has a roughly 60% share of India's data traffic.

In recent years, Reliance Jio Platforms has diversified beyond telecom into AI, cloud and enterprise network services, as well as app development. In 2023, Nvidia NVDA.O announced an AI partnership with Reliance to develop cloud infrastructure and language models.

THE LEADERSHIP

Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man, is the chairman of Jio Platforms. His three children - Akash, Anant and Isha - serve on its board. Akash Ambani, his elder son, is the chairman of the company's flagship telecom unit, Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Reliance Industries holds a 66.43% stake in Jio Platforms.

Kiran Thomas is the CEO of Jio Platforms.

KEY FINANCIALS, VALUATION

Reliance Jio Platforms' operating revenue in the last financial year ending March 2025 stood at $13.65 billion. But 90% of that came just from the telecom business, which the company says has grown annually by 13% since 2020-21.

Reliance Jio Platforms posted a profit after tax of $2.8 billion in the year.

In November, investment bank Jefferies estimated that Reliance Jio's valuation stood at $180 billion. Sources told Reuters in January the IPO could be worth as much as $4 billion, though final numbers will only be decided later.

MARQUEE INVESTORS

In 2020, Jio Platforms raised more than $20.5 billion from 13 global investors in exchange for a roughly 33% equity stake, at a valuation range of $57 billion to $65 billion.

Global names such as Meta Platforms META.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O and KKR invested in the firm, as Ambani sought to turn Jio Platforms into the centerpiece of his technology ambitions.

Other investors include General Atlantic, Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Meta owns a 9.9% stake in the company, followed by Google's 7.7% stake.

THE IPO JOURNEY

The filing, which had been targeted for as early as March, had been pushed back as IPO activity slowed following the outbreak of conflict in West Asia, with investors losing their appetite for new listings.

The IPO, previously expected to be a pure offer-for-sale where foreign investors would have sold some of their holdings, will now only be a fresh fund raise.

The company's IPO has been long delayed. In 2019, Ambani said Jio would "move towards" a listing within five years, but later the plans were delayed in 2025.

The company had hired 17 banks to manage its offering.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Sonali Paul, Elaine Hardcastle)

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June 18 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.6%.

* SUNDERLAND PLANT: The British government is in advanced talks with Japanese carmaker Nissan 7201.T about providing it financial support in return for a long-term commitment and investment in its Sunderland plant, five sources with knowledge of the discussions said.

* HSBC: HSBC's 0005.HK, HSBA.L Australia unit has admitted to serious failures in protecting customers from scams and could face an A$35 million penalty pending court approval, Australia's corporate regulator said.

* DIAGEO: Diageo's DGE.L new boss, Dave Lewis, has asked executives to cut headcount and other costs as he begins restructuring the struggling spirits group, the Financial Times reported.

* OIL: Oil prices fell over $1 per barrel after the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement that would end the Iran war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and waive U.S. sanctions on Tehran's oil.

* METALS: Copper declined as hawkish Federal Reserve projections outweighed improvement in risk appetite following the U.S.-Iran peace deal.

* GOLD: Gold rose over 1%, recouping losses from the previous session, as a drop in oil prices following a U.S.-Iran interim agreement dampened inflation expectations and supported bullion.

* FTSE: Britain's FTSE indexes closed higher on Wednesday, with gains in miners offsetting broader declines, while investors weighed domestic inflation data ahead of interest rate decisions by the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

* EX-DIVS: Compass Group CPG.L, 3i Group III.L, Airtel Africa AAF.L, Land Securities LAND.L, British Land BLND.L, and Persimmon PSN.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout on Thursday.

* UK CORPORATE DIARY:

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB

(Compiled by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru)

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June 15 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL- SHAREHOLDERS APPROVED ONGOING TRANSACTION TO CONSOLIDATE STAKE IN UNIT AIRTEL AFRICA PLC

Source text: ID:nnAZN4T2AYK

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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The Bombay High Court on June 8 set aside a Rs 8,414 crore demand for one-time spectrum charges that the Department of Telecommunications had pressed against Bharti Airtel since 2013. The court allowed a petition filed by the company challenging the initial notice of Rs 5,201.2 crore, later revised to Rs 8,414 crore. The demand included a Rs 473.7 crore portion relating to Bharti Hexacom, a subsidiary that operates in two telecom circles. The judgment was uploaded on the High Court's website late on June 8.

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June 9 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL - BOMBAY HIGH COURT ALLOWED CO'S PETITION, SET ASIDE IMPUGNED DEMAND

• BHARTI AIRTEL - BOMBAY HIGH COURT SETS ASIDE DEMAND NOTICE FOR 84.14 BILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nnAZN4T1D6K

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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Repeats Thursday's story with no changes to the text

By Amy-Jo Crowley

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises is seeking to potentially increase its stake in BT to just under the threshold that would require it to make a full takeover offer for the British telecoms group, three people familiar with the matter said.

Led by billionaire founder, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the group is looking to secure UK government approval required for it to be able to increase its stake in the London-listed company, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

It could increase its stake to as much as 29.9% to gain greater economic exposure to BT but does not plan to pursue a full takeover, one of the people said.

A Bharti spokesman said the company is pleased with its current 24.95% shareholding and "currently has no plans to increase its stake." The UK government's Cabinet Office declined to comment. BT referred questions to the UK government and Bharti.

Any move by Bharti to increase its stake beyond 25% would have to be reviewed by the government under the National Security and Investment Act, which gives the government greater say over deals where national interests might be involved.

The group first bought a stake in BT in 2024 by acquiring a 24.5% shareholding from Altice's Patrick Drahi, making it a key strategic shareholder in the company. Bharti said at that time it was supportive of BT's executive team and its "ambitious" transformation programme to deliver long-term sustainable growth.

BT shares have risen 55% since its acquisition of the stake, according to LSEG data. The stake is held by Bharti Televentures, according to LSEG data.

BHARTI HAS NO PLANS TO BID FOR ALL OF BT

Bharti, which owns the Bharti Airtel brand operating in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa, said at the time of that acquisition that it did not intend to bid for all of BT, the former state monopoly which is Britain's biggest broadband and mobile company.

In September Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, and Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, joined the BT board as non-independent non-executive directors.

The UK approved the purchase in London-listed BT at the end of 2024 after a detailed national security assessment and assurances from the telecoms company. BT established a national security committee to oversee "strategic work that it performs which has an impact on or is in respect of the national security" of the country, the UK government said at the time.

​

(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London. Additional reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Chizu Nomiyama )

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By Amy-Jo Crowley

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises is seeking to potentially increase its stake in BT to just under the threshold that would require it to make a full takeover offer for the British telecoms group, three people familiar with the matter said.

Led by billionaire founder, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the group is looking to secure UK government approval required for it to be able to increase its stake in the London-listed company, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

It could increase its stake to as much as 29.9% to gain greater economic exposure to BT but does not plan to pursue a full takeover, one of the people said.

A Bharti spokesman said the company is pleased with its current 24.95% shareholding and "currently has no plans to increase its stake." The UK government's Cabinet Office declined to comment. BT referred questions to the UK government and Bharti.

Any move by Bharti to increase its stake beyond 25% would have to be reviewed by the government under the National Security and Investment Act, which gives the government greater say over deals where national interests might be involved.

The group first bought a stake in BT in 2024 by acquiring a 24.5% shareholding from Altice's Patrick Drahi, making it a key strategic shareholder in the company. Bharti said at that time it was supportive of BT's executive team and its "ambitious" transformation programme to deliver long-term sustainable growth.

BT shares have risen 55% since its acquisition of the stake, according to LSEG data. The stake is held by Bharti Televentures, according to LSEG data.

BHARTI HAS NO PLANS TO BID FOR ALL OF BT

Bharti, which owns the Bharti Airtel brand operating in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa, said at the time of that acquisition that it did not intend to bid for all of BT, the former state monopoly which is Britain's biggest broadband and mobile company.

In September Mittal, founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, and Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, joined the BT board as non-independent non-executive directors.

The UK approved the purchase in London-listed BT at the end of 2024 after a detailed national security assessment and assurances from the telecoms company. BT established a national security committee to oversee "strategic work that it performs which has an impact on or is in respect of the national security" of the country, the UK government said at the time.

​

(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London. Additional reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Chizu Nomiyama )

(([email protected]))

May 21 (Reuters) - Singapore Telecommunications STEL.SI reported a 12.1% rise in annual underlying profit on Thursday, driven by strong contributions from India's Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS and other regional associates.

Southeast Asia's largest telecom operator said underlying net profit was S$2.77 billion ($2.17 billion) for the year ended March 2026, compared with S$2.47 billion in the previous year.

That missed the Visible Alpha consensus estimate of S$2.82 billion.

($1 = 1.2774 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee and Keshav Singh Chundawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Prudential PRU.L, 2378.HK has a punchy plan to shake up its life insurance business in India: it's buying a controlling stake in Bharti Life Insurance. Tapping its new partner's telco and asset management customers is a risky alternative to the tried-and-tested model of distributing products via a bank but could be an ingenious way to kickstart growth.

The $38 billion group agreed to acquire 75% of Bharti Life from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management ONEW.NS for $389 million, it said on Sunday.

That means Prudential CEO Anil Wadhwani is doing a switcheroo: the transaction requires Pru to reduce its stake in an existing venture with ICICI Bank ICBK.NS to under 10%, from 22%, per the company. It could well go on to divest what remains, leaving Bharti as its key partner.

The Indian business is in need of a reboot. New business sales there fell 2% last year, and its ranking among private life insurers fell to fifth from third a year earlier. That was a disappointing result for what ought to be a high-growth market. The world’s most populous country has only 3% penetration in the life insurance space, Prudential reckons.

Wadhwani’s solution is a creative one. Insurers often lean on large banks like ICICI to reach potential policy buyers. But the target’s main attraction is Bharti Airtel’s BRTI.NS nearly 300 million smartphone customers in India, compared with ICICI’s roughly 80 million retail banking clients, per data from Bharti and BCG Matrix. Overlapping markets in Africa could also open up other emerging markets, while the telecom company's asset management arm could help Pru reach India’s high net worth individuals.

But making it work could be tough. JioBlackRock, a joint venture between BlackRock BLK.N and Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS, is tapping additional distributors to sell its products after trying a digital direct model that leaned on its connections to Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecoms group.

And while the deal price seems fair, it’s not a bargain, valuing the company at just over $500 million, or around 1.5 times its embedded value as of September. That’s in line with the average for rivals SBI Life Insurance SBIL.NS, HDFC Life Insurance HDFL.NS and the Life Insurance Corporation of India LIFI.NS, per Visible Alpha, and just below 1.6 times for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance ICIR.NS. Shareholders sent Pru’s stock down 2% in morning trade in Hong Kong. That's probably because Wadhwani's punt for better rewards in India comes with higher risks.

Follow Katrina Hamlin on Bluesky and Linkedin.

CONTEXT NEWS

Insurer Prudential said on May 17 that it has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance from ​Bharti Life Ventures and 360 ONE Asset Management for an initial cash consideration of $389 million, with a potential additional consideration of up to $78 million, subject to certain conditions.

Prudential’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell 2.26% to HK$116.8 in morning trade on May 18.

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on HAMLIN/[email protected]; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

May 17 (Reuters) - Prudential PLC PRU.L:

• PRUDENTIAL PLC: REPOSITIONS ITS INDIA OPERATIONS THROUGH A CONTROLLING STAKE IN BHARTI LIFE INSURANCE

• PRUDENTIAL: AS PART OF A STRATEGIC REPOSITIONING OF INDIA OPERATIONS HAS AGREED TO ACQUIRE A 75% STAKE IN BHARTI LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED

• PRUDENTIAL: TRANSACTION IS FOR AN INITIAL CASH CONSIDERATION OF ₹3,500 CRORE PAYABLE ON COMPLETION

• PRUDENTIAL: THERE IS POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION PAYABLE OF UP TO ₹700 CRORE, DEPENDENT ON THE FULFILMENT OF CERTAIN CONDITIONS.

• PRUDENTIAL: AS PART OF THE TRANSACTION, BHARTI LIFE WILL ALSO LOOK INTO SECURING STRATEGIC DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS WITH BHARTI AIRTEL AND 360 ONE

• PRUDENTIAL: AS PART OF THE TRANSACTION, BHARTI LIFE WILL ALSO LOOK INTO SECURING STRATEGIC DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENTS WITH BHARTI AIRTEL AND 360 ONE

• PRUDENTIAL: REGULATORY APPROVALS FOR THE TRANSACTION ARE EXPECTED TO REQUIRE PRUDENTIAL TO REDUCE ITS SHAREHOLDING IN ICICIPRU LIFE TO UNDER 10%

Source text: https://tinyurl.com/5n8r34wr

Further company coverage: PRU.L

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May 14 (Reuters) -

• INDIA'S BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: CONTINUE TO REMAIN CONFIDENT ABOUT LONG-TERM GROWTH OPPORTUNITY IN AFRICA

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: FEW AREAS OF OPERATIONS WERE IMPACTED BY ONGOING GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: DETERMINED TO ACCELERATE GROWTH IN POSTPAID

• BHARTI AIRTEL EXEC: SEE COST PRESSURES IN SERVERS AND MEMORY PRICES

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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May 13 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• BHARTI AIRTEL - RE-APPOINTMENT OF MR. SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL AS CHAIRMAN

• BHARTI AIRTEL - RE-APPOINTMENT OF AS CHAIRMAN OF COMPANY FOR FURTHER TERM OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE YEARS

Source text: ID:nBSEMr8Sq

Further company coverage: BRTI.NS

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Updates to markets close

By Twesha Dikshit and Avinash P

May 11 (Reuters) - European shares ended Monday's session flat, constrained by a drop in luxury stocks, while stalled U.S.-Iran peace negotiations drove oil prices higher and also kept investors cautious.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX closed little changed at 612.79 points. Regional indexes moved in different directions, with Italian stocks .FTMIB edging 0.8% higher, while France's CAC 40 .FCHI slipped 0.7%.

Luxury stocks .STXLUXP led declines among sectors, falling 3.4% and were also the worst performing on the STOXX 600 this year. LVMH LVMH.PA lost more than 4.4%, while Hermes HRMS.PA and Burberry BRBY.L fell more than 3.3% each.

Berenberg analysts said that the conflict in the Middle East masked the reality that underlying demand globally was still weak, making the sector's outlook fragile.

Global uncertainty was high after President Donald Trump's swift rejection of Iran's response to a U.S. peace proposal fuelled concerns that the 10-week-old conflict would drag on and continue to paralyse shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and keep oil prices elevated.

"The energy price is going to remain elevated for a while and it feels to me the markets are just taking (it) a little bit for granted," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, European strategist at Raymond James.

"The real story is not actually in the crude price, but in the price of diesel and in the price of jet fuel. So you're starting to see crack spreads widen."

Travel and leisure stocks .SXTP are among the worst performers this year, down more than 7%.

The war has shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for a fifth of global energy flows, with soaring oil prices adding to concerns over the conflict's impact on inflation and growth.

Energy-dependent Europe remains vulnerable, with markets still trading about 4% below pre-war levels and lagging global peers that have rebounded on artificial intelligence-driven optimism.

Martin Kocher, a governing council member of the European Central Bank, warned that the ECB would need to adjust interest rates soon if the inflationary outlook did not significantly improve.

Money markets expect two or more rate hikes from the ECB this year, with the first one expected as early as June.

Offsetting losses was a 2.6% jump in miners .SXPP tracking higher precious metal prices.

Among other movers, Delivery Hero DHER.DE jumped more than 18% after Dutch technology investor Prosus PRX.AS sold a 5% stake in the German food-delivery group to activist investor Aspex Management for roughly 335 million euros ($393 million).

Airtel Africa AAF.L soared 14.5% after parent Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS flagged plans to review its subsidiary shareholding structure.

(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alex Richardson)

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By Jayshree P Upadhyay and Jaspreet Kalra

MUMBAI, May 5 (Reuters) - Gautam Adani's eponymous firm, telecom operator Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS, U.S.-based Genpact and autoparts giant ZF Friedrichshafen are among the companies setting up treasury operations in India's tax-neutral finance zone, according to three sources.

They are set to join ArcelorMittal MT.LU, the world's second-largest steelmaker, which has secured regulatory licenses to set up two treasury centres, according to public filings.

The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, known as GIFT City, is being promoted by the Modi government as a financial centre to rival Singapore and Dubai. In February, the government extended the tax holiday for firms operating there to 20 years and regulations have also been eased.

Seventeen corporate treasuries are likely to begin operations in GIFT City over the next three months, two of the three sources said, declining to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Corporate treasury operations have traditionally been housed in places like Singapore and the Netherlands. Global treasury centres are hubs where multinational firms manage cash, funding, liquidity, foreign exchange and financial risks.

Access to cheaper funding, lower taxes on remitting dividends and excess cash to overseas units, along with being able to hold assets in dollars as the rupee weakens, are prompting firms to set up treasury centres in GIFT City, the three sources said. By onshoring this activity to GIFT City, India hopes to retain control and oversight of global financial flows associated with its companies.

"Treasury centres at GIFT City are allowing firms to pool cash and borrow at a group level with greater flexibility and improving access to funds generated by their Indian businesses," said Suresh Swamy, a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Responding to a Reuters query, a spokesperson for Germany-based ZF Friedrichshafen said in an email it is exploring a GIFT City set-up and has yet to apply for a license.

Email queries to the other companies mentioned in this article did not yield any responses.

The names of firms planning to set up operations in GIFT City have not been previously reported.

Dipesh Shah, an executive director at the International Financial Services Centre Authority, a GIFT City regulator, said "the rise of treasury centres at GIFT marks a structural shift in how India-linked corporates manage global capital." He declined to comment on individual companies setting up treasury operations at the tax hub.

REGULATORY PUSH

Activity has picked up sharply since January, with seven companies securing regulatory licences and another 17 at different stages of approval, sources said.

Much of the recent surge is attributable to regulatory changes from April 2025, according to two of the sources.

"The interest from foreign multinational companies has been beyond our expectations," said a senior regulatory official at GIFT City who requested anonymity as they are not authorised to talk to the media.

A key change that was made allows banks to pay interest on current account balances - a practice not allowed by the Reserve Bank of India for onshore lenders, the sources said. Just one foreign bank has started this so far, two of the three sources said.

ArcelorMittal - an early entrant - plans to undertake cash pooling activities for its India entities via GIFT City, according to the sources, similar to what it does via its treasury centre in Paris through an entity called ArcelorMittal Treasury.

(Reporting by Jayshree P Upadhyay and Jaspreet Kalra in Mumbai; Editing by Ira Dugal in Mumbai and Thomas Derpinghaus)

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March 30 (Reuters) - India's Bharti Airtel BRTI.NS said on Monday its data center business, Nxtra Data, has raised $1 billion from Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle CG.O and Anchorage Capital.

The funding values Nxtra at $3.1 billion, the company said in a press release.

(Reporting by Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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