Sunil Mittal - Central News Hub

Sunil Mittal to receive Honorary Knighthood

Sunil is the co-chairman of Eutelsat Group, a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide…reports Asian Lite News

The founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Bharti Mittal, will receive the Honorary Knighthood, the Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE), in recognition of his contributions, and his services to UK and India business relations.

The Honorary KBE, which is to be conferred on Mittal, is the second-highest order of the British Empire.

Mittal is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s foremost first-generation corporations with interests in telecom, space communications, digital Solutions, real Estate and hospitality.

Bharti has joint ventures with several global partners such as SingTel, SoftBank, Del Monte, the UK and the French Government, among others.

Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises, is a leading telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries and ranks among the top three mobile operators globally.

Sunil is the co-chairman of Eutelsat Group, a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide.

He is also a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour that is awarded to individuals demonstrating distinguished services of high order. He ahs also been conferred with the Harvard Business School’s Alumni Achievement Award, the highest alumni honour bestowed by the institute.

He is on Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council and has served on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School. Sunil received GSM Association’s prestigious Chairman’s Award and has been conferred Honorary Doctorates by several leading universities in India and Europe.

Mittal also served as Chair of the B20 India Action Council on African Economic Integration during India’s G20 Presidency.

He is also a serving Commissioner at the International Telecommunication Union/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and the Global Board of Advisors at the Council on Foreign Relations. (ANI)

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Sunil Mittal’s Uganda IPO flops

The demand for Ugandan government bonds maturing in 2033 exceeded the amount on sale by eight-fold in an auction last Thursday….reports Asian Lite News

Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal’s Airtel Uganda Ltd. failed to sell about half of the shares on offer in its initial public offering (IPO), as investors stayed away, preferring high-yield government bonds, a media report said.

Airtel said it managed to raise 211.4 billion shillings ($56 million) after selling 54.5 per cent of the 8 billion shares on offer. Retail investors bought just 0.3 per cent of the IPO. Shares were unchanged at 100 shillings on its debut on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

Government bonds in the East African country yield as much as 15 per cent. By comparison, shares of Airtel’s rival MTN Uganda Ltd. have dropped 14 per cent since its IPO in 2021. Investors have also been wary after Uganda enacted a draconian anti-LGBTQ law, prompting US President Joe Biden to withdraw the nation’s preferential trade access.

Investors may have opted for less risky government securities while disregarding the future value of the stock, the Uganda Security Exchange’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Bwiso, said in the nation’s capital, Kampala, Bloomberg reported.

The demand for Ugandan government bonds maturing in 2033 exceeded the amount on sale by eight-fold in an auction last Thursday.

Four years ago, President Yoweri Museveni’s government had ordered wireless companies to sell 20 per cent stakes to local investors in a bid to deepen the market.

The state-controlled National Social Security Fund bought a 10.55 per cent stake, according to Airtel, Bloomberg reported.

A decision by the company to spin off its mobile-money business also played a role in the IPO’s failure, according to Centenary Bank financial markets head, Benoni Okwenje.

African telecom operators have been devising plans to capitalise on their lucrative mobile money businesses. TPG invested in Airtel’s unit valuing it at $2.65 billion in 2021, and more recently, MTN sold a minority stake of its fintech business to Mastercard valuing the business at $5.2 billion, Bloomberg reported.

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