Kohlberg Kravis Roberts invests in Bharti Infratel

Bharti Infratel, a wholly owned subsidiary of India`s largest mobile telephony service provider, Bharti Airtel, announced today that the leading private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) has agreed to invest USD 250 million in Bharti Infratel. The investment will be made by KKR`s Asia dedicated private equity fund and its global private equity fund.

This is in addition to the investment of USD 1 billion in Bharti Infratel by leading international investors Temasek Holdings, The Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) Goldman Sachs, Macquarie, AIF Capital, Citigroup & India Equity Partners (IEP) in December 2007.

The enterprise valuation of Bharti Infratel will be in the range of USD 10 to 12.5 billion with the final valuation to be determined on the basis of Bharti Infratel`s actual operating performance in FY 2008-09. This investment reinforces the confidence of leading global investors in the Indian telecom sector, which is now the fastest growing telecom market in the world, and the Bharti Group. It is also an endorsement of the Indian Governments visionary policy on sharing of passive infrastructure.

Bharti Infratel owns over 20,000 sites and holds an approximately 42% stake in Indus Towers, the recently announced joint venture between Bharti, Vodafone and Idea, which has over 70,000 sites. Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers will provide passive infrastructure services to all wireless telecom operators in India on a non-discriminatory basis. Sharing of passive infrastructure
results in capex and opex savings and higher capital efficiency for all wireless operators, enabling quicker roll out of services, especially in rural areas, thus benefiting millions of people across India, the company said in a release.

Shares of the company declined Rs 34.95, or 3.73%, to trade at Rs 901. The total volume of shares traded was 325,373 at the BSE. (1.12 p.m, Wednesday)