iWorld
Bharti Airtel to sell 32% stake in Bharti Infratel
MUMBAI: On Thursday’s Bharti Airtel board meeting, the telecom company decided to take some vital steps in order to remain in competition of the Jio dominated telecom industry. Bharti Airtel has decided to sell a 32 per cent stake in Bharti Infratel. With this happening, the telco may raise over Rs 15,500 crore.
Furthermore, the company has also appointed Badal Bagri as its new CFO and KMP which will be effective from 1 March. He will replace the company’s current global CFO and KMP Nilanjan Roy whose resignation was approved in the BOD meeting. The outcome of the meeting was announced in a regulatory filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Exploring fund raising options, the company board agreed to sell stakes to cut the ridden debt and boost its struggling business in the country.
Confirming its decisions in a regulatory filing, the telco wrote that the board has authorised and, “approved the sale/transfer of up to 591.87 million equity shares (32 per cent) of Bharti Infratel, to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Ltd, to explore a potential monetisation of its (Bharti) Infratel stake, subject to the approval of shareholders.”
Additionally, in a separate filing concluding the meeting, it informed that the company “has formed and authorised a ‘special committee of directors for fund raising’ to comprehensively explore/evaluate various options of fund-raising for the company to strengthen its capital structure and balance sheet.”
iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
