Mumbai, Mar 12 (IANS): Telecom major Bharti Airtel will slash its stake in Bharti Infratel to 18.3 per cent by selling around 32 per cent stake to Nettle Infrastructure Investments, a regulatory filing by Infratel said on Tuesday.

Nettle Infrastructure, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has 3.2 per cent stake in Infratel. After the transaction, its stake would rise to 35.2 per cent, it said. Bharti Airtel currently has 50.3 per cent stake in the telecom tower company.

According to Infratel, the acquisition would take place "on or after March 18". The price of shares for the deal would be "at or around the market price prevailing on the date of acquisition".

Market analysts said this transfer of shares would eventually lead to sale of the stake to a third party and help Bharti Airtel raise money.

Consequent to the announcement, shares of Bharti Airtel surged over 4 per cent during the day.

At 2.02 p.m., the share price of Bharti Airtel on the BSE was Rs 347 - higher by Rs 13.30 or 3.99 per cent from its previous close.