BT Said to Start Sale to Exit Stake in Tech Mahindra

BT Group Plc (BT/A), Britain’s biggest fixed-line phone company, is exiting Tech Mahindra Ltd. (TECHM) through a sale of shares to institutional investors to raise at least 9.9 billion rupees ($183 million), according to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News.

The minimum price for the shares has been set at 855 rupees, representing a 2.8 percent discount to the last closing price in Mumbai, the terms showed. BT had a 9.1 percent stake in the Indian technology services provider before yesterday’s share sale, the terms showed.

BT raised an initial 13.9 billion rupees through a sale of a 14.1 percent stake in Tech Mahindra in August.

Indian companies raised 404 billion rupees in share sales this year, compared with 296 billion rupees raised in 2011, as stakeholders including Citigroup Inc. (C) and Temasek Holdings Pte sold shares in local companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) are managing BT’s stake sale, said two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before an announcement. Officials at Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and BT declined to comment on the sale.

Tech Mahindra’s shares rose 0.6 percent to 879.5 rupees at the close of trade in Mumbai. They have gained 53 percent since the start of the year, compared with a 25 percent increase in the benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ruth David in London at rdavid9@bloomberg.net Hemal Savai in Mumbai at hsavai@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jacqueline Simmons at jackiem@bloomberg.net