Bharti Airtel has completed a $3-billion fund raising exercise through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB). The money raised will go towards the payment of statutory dues to the government following a Supreme Court judgment in October last year.

The telecom company on Thursday said after the $2-billion QIP issue, the holding of promoter and promoter group will dip to 58.98 per cent from 62.70 per cent.

Bharti Airtel said in a statement that as part of the QIP offering, it will issue 32.3 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 445.

The pricing is at a discount of 1.57 per cent to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) determined floor price of Rs 452.09 per share.

The QIP issue saw participation by marquee global and Indian investors.

According to the company, the $3-billion transaction is the largest ever dual tranche of equity and FCCB offering in the Asia Pacific, the largest QIP by a private issuer in India and the largest FCCB offering from an India issuer in the last 12 years.

Bharti Airtel’s fund raising comes days ahead of the January 23 deadline set by the apex court for the telcos to pay the ir dues. The apex court will be hearing on Thursday a review petition filed by the companies with regard to the AGR order.

Future Retail

Kishore Biyani-led Future Retail on Wednesday said it has raised $500 million through dollar-denominated bonds.

This is the first international bond transaction from India’s retail and consumer segment. The retail player said it has fixed the rate for senior secured 144A/Reg S Bond for a five-year (non-call three-year) tenor at 5.6 per cent.