SingTel after Voda's stake in Bharti

According to reports, Singaporean telco SingTel has formally expressed its interest in buying Vodafone’s 10 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel to the British company and its advisors, UBS.

Vodafone initiated the talks with Singapore’s largest telco in order to sell the stake in Bharti Airtel. If Vodafone wins the $18bn auction of Hutchison Essar in India, Vodafone would need to offload its Bharti holding. Currently SingTel owns a 30.5 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel and the company’s chief executive, Lee Hsien Yang, has already confirmed his company’s interest in buying Vodafone’s share of the Indian firm.

The move comes soon after Vodafone’s chief executive, Arun Sarin, revealed he would be making a formal offer for Hutchison Essar early next month. “Our due diligence process is under way. Once we get the report, which could be any time next week, we will be submitting a formal proposal. It will be sometime early next month,” he said.