Summary:
Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal has announced plans to restore Bharti Telecom’s controlling stake in Airtel to above 50 percent through a broader restructuring strategy. The process has already begun with a share swap involving ICIL to increase ownership in Airtel Africa. Mittal said the move is aimed at consolidating control under a single entity, improving operational efficiency, and supporting future succession planning. He also highlighted plans to gradually combine stakes held by ICIL, Bharti family entities, and Singtel under Bharti Telecom, while noting that additional share buybacks may be required in the future to achieve the target ownership level.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, has outlined plans to restore a controlling stake of more than 50% in the telecom company. As part of this effort, Airtel’s board has already initiated a broader corporate restructuring process, beginning with a share swap arrangement involving ICIL (Indian Continent Investment Limited) to increase ownership in Airtel Africa. Mittal also participated in Bharti Airtel’s FY26 earnings call, a move that surprised analysts and media observers, as he generally does not attend such discussions.
Mittal stated that Bharti Telecom is expected to hold over 50% ownership in Airtel in the future, allowing a single entity to retain control, streamline operations, and enable faster strategic decision-making. He also spoke about succession planning and his long-term intention to eventually transfer leadership responsibilities to the next generation.
During the call, Mittal explained that the vision has always been to maintain ownership through one principal holding company. He noted that Bharti Telecom has historically served as the founding promoter and, for a significant period, maintained a controlling shareholding of around 51% in Airtel.
He further said that over the coming decade, as he gradually steps back and hands over responsibilities to future generations, his objective is for Bharti Telecom to once again achieve a controlling stake of slightly above 50%. According to Mittal, this would require increasing ownership by roughly another 10%, which he acknowledged would be a major undertaking given Airtel’s scale and market value.
Mittal also discussed plans to gradually consolidate the holdings of ICIL, Bharti family entities, and Singtel under Bharti Telecom. He noted that Singtel, which currently owns both direct and indirect stakes in Airtel, has started reducing its direct shareholding to align its ownership level more closely with that of the Mittal family. Following a recent share swap transaction, Singtel’s direct stake in Airtel declined from 6% to 3.6%. Mittal said he expects that within the next three to four years, the ownership structure between Singtel and the Mittal family would become more balanced, with Singtel eventually exiting its direct stake in Airtel.
He added that Bharti Airtel may also need to undertake additional share buybacks in the future, which would require the company to maintain strong cash flow generation.
