Bharti Airtel sells $508 million stake in tower arm Bharti Infratel

REUTERS - Top Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.NS) said on Tuesday it sold part of its holdings in mobile masts arm Bharti Infratel Ltd (BHRI.NS) for 33.25 billion rupees ($507.52 million) in a bid to reduce debt.

Bharti Airtel's unit Nettle Infrastructure Investments Ltd sold 83 million shares in Bharti Infratel at 400.6 rupees each in stock market transactions, a discount of 3.6 percent to Monday's closing price. http://bit.ly/2jnJ6if

Global investors, fund managers and long-only investors bought the shares, Bharti Airtel said, adding that the deal was upsized by more than 25 percent.

Following the stake sale, Bharti Airtel and its units own 53.5 percent of Bharti Infratel.

J.P. Morgan, UBS and Goldman Sachs handled the share sale.

($1 = 65.5150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)