24 October 2018 Bharti Airtel announced fresh equity issue of USD1.25b (INR92b) by Airtel Africa (its wholly owned subsidiary) to its investors including Warburg Pincus, Temasek, Singtel, SoftBank Group International, etc. This implies 28.4% dilution on a post issue equity value of USD4.4b (INR323b), at an Enterprise Value of USD8.2b (ex of USD1.25b cash) and EV/EBITDA of 7.8x. Management intends to use the proceeds to prune the Africa business debt, which currently stands at ~USD5b (INR367b) and to further grow the Africa business. Pre-IPO funding values Africa business at 7.8x/7.1x FY19E/FY20E EBITDA of INR77b/84b (broadly in line with our estimates, however, a beat on consensus), confirming the buoyant outlook. These upbeat valuations should provide impetus to Bharti in further fund raising through its intended Africa IPO. The pre-IPO fund raising also provides solace to Bharti in paring down its bloated consol.