Bharti Airtel restructures board of directors

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced the restructuring of its board of directors and that of its subsidiary Bharti Infratel which is expected to go in for an initial public offering (IPO).

"The changes have been effected in view of the proposed IPO of Bharti Infratel, which is a leading provider of passive telecom infrastructure in India," the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the restructuring, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of Bharti Airtel, said: "These changes have been effected in line with our strong corporate governance culture and will ensure that Bharti and Singtel have distinct representatives on the boards of Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel."

"I am confident that these two world-class boards will continue to guide these companies to greater heights," he added.

Following the restructuring exercise, Manish Kejriwal and Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili will join Bharti Airtel board.

Kejriwal is the managing partner of Kedaara Capital Advisors LLP, a private equity fund dedicated to India. Prior to this, he headed the India office of Temasek Holdings.

Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili is former World Bank vice president for Africa and a world-renowned expert on economic reforms and economic governance.

The board of Bharti Airtel will now consist of Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director, Ajay Lal, Chua Sock Koong, Craig Ehrlich, Manoj Kohli, Manish Kejriwal, N. Kumar, Nikesh Arora, Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, Pulak Prasad, Rajan Bharti Mittal, Tan Yong Choo and Tsun-yan Hsieh.

The Bharti Infratel board will consists of Rakesh Bharti Mittal, chairman, Akhil Gupta, vice chairman and managing director, Bharat S. Raut, Jitender Balakrishnan, N.Kumar, Sanjay Nayar, Sarvjit Singh Dhillon and Vinod Kumar Dhall.

Bharti Infratel, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, deploys, owns and manages telecom towers and communication structures, for various mobile operators across 18 states of India.