Bharti ups stake in Qualcomm broadband arm

Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has acquired an additional 2% stake in Qualcomm’s broadband wireless access (BWA) businesses in India.

These would now become subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel.

“Bharti Airtel has subscribed to an additional 2% equity share capital in all the four India BWA entities of Qualcomm AP. With this, all four entities are now subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel,” the company said in a statement.

On May 24, 2012, Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm had announced an agreement under which Bharti had acquired 49% interest in Qualcomm AP’s India businesses that hold BWA licences in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.

Bharti Airtel shares rose 2.4% to R301 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company operates in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.