Bharti Airtel shares fall nearly 6 pc

New Delhi, May 26 () Shares of Bharti Airtel on Tuesday fell nearly 6 per cent after promoter firm Bharti Telecom sold 2.75 per cent stake in Airtel to institutional investors in the secondary market.

It dropped 5.71 per cent to close at Rs 559.15 on the BSE. During the day, it tumbled 5.96 per cent to Rs 557.65.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), shares of the company fell 5.72 per cent to close at Rs 559.25.

Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex and Nifty pack.

Promoter firm Bharti Telecom has sold 2.75 per cent stake in Airtel to institutional investors in the secondary market, raising over Rs 8,433 crore, the company said on Tuesday.

The sale proceeds will be fully utilised to repay debt at Bharti Telecom and will make the promoter holding company a 'debt-free company', it said.

Bharti Group and Singtel will continue to hold a majority stake in Bharti Airtel at 56.23 per cent after the transaction, it added.

Announcing the closure of secondary block placement of Airtel shares, Bharti Telecom said the issue oversubscribed multiple times with healthy mix of all categories of investors, long only and hedge fund investors across geographies in India, Asia, Europe and the US.

"Bharti Telecom Limited, the promoter company of Bharti Airtel Limited have today sold 2.75 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel to institutional investors through an accelerated book building process in the secondary market," it said. SUM HRS