Qatar Foundation Endowment (QFE) has announced the successful sale, through its Asia-Pacific regional holding company Three Pillars Private Ltd (TPPL), via a block trade of the entire 5% stake it holds in Bharti Airtel. 
The block trade was priced at Rs481 per share, a discount of 6.4% to the previous closing price as of November 7.
In May 2013, TPPL invested Rs68bn in Bharti Airtel, to strengthen the capital structure and allow further investment for growth. The investment saw TPPL acquire 199,870,006 shares at a price of Rs340 per share. Given the sale price of Rs481 per share, the sale of this stake realises a significant gain for TPPL.
“The proceeds of the share sale will be reinvested as part of the QFE Group’s ongoing global portfolio growth and diversification, as it seeks to generate long-term financial returns by investing across a range of asset-classes, industries and geographies. TPPL’s representative on Bharti Airtel’s Board of Directors will step down immediately, post settlement of the sale,” QFE said. 
On the transaction, Rashid al-Naimi, QFE chief executive officer, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with Bharti Airtel though an important stage of their growth. Bharti Airtel has successfully maintained its market-leading position, and its positive momentum has led to our investment performing well. The QFE Group will reinvest the proceeds globally, as we continue to grow and diversify our portfolio. We remain firm supporters of the Bharti Airtel business, the management team and their strategy, and wish them well in the future.”
UBS acted as sole bookrunner on this transaction.