Ratings agency Standard & Poor Friday said Bharti Airtel's long-term corporate credit rating is unaffected by its acquisition of 49 percent stake in Qualcomm India's BWA entities for USD 165 million.
"Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' long-term corporate credit rating on Bharti Airtel (BB+/Stable/--) is unaffected by the company's USD 165 million investment...," S&P said in a statement.
The deal announced yesterday will help the telecom major establish a stronghold in fast-growing high speed internet services, giving it access to lucrative circles like Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.
"We believe the current investment is small in size and that Bharti should be able to absorb the financial impact of paying for the remaining stake and of assuming debt at Qualcomm India BWA," S&P said.
It added that the deal to have an additional impact of USD 900 million-USD 1 billion.
"This is assuming that Bharti will gain full ownership of Qualcomm India BWA in phases by the end of 2014," it said.
Bharti Airtel, which had revenues of Rs 71,450 crore and a subscriber base of 25 crore (as of March 2012) had bagged BWA licences in four circles - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra. The high speed data services have already been launched in Kolkata and Bangalore.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Infotel is the only company to have pan-India (22 circles) BWA spectrum for the 4G services. However, it is yet to launch the service.