Mumbai, July 10: It was a hectic day at the Bharti Airtel counter on the bourses today. Close to 10 lakh shares changed hands in a single block deal.

Market sources said the deal was struck at Rs 412 per share and it was between two foreign institutional investors (FIIs). For the year ended March 31, 2006, FIIs held 25.62 per cent of the company’s equity.

According to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) data, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, Morgan Stanley & Company International, Growth Fund of America and CLSA Merchant Bankers are some of the prominent FIIs which hold Bharti shares.

The deal, valued at Rs 41.20 crore, accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the turnover at the Bharti Airtel counter. On the BSE alone, around 14.40 lakh shares of Bharti were traded, resulting in a turnover of Rs 59.30 crore.

Though the deal is not expected to lead to any increase in the FII holding in Bharti since it was struck between two of these investors, brokers said such trades (FII to FII) have been the highlights in this counter over the past few sessions.

Interestingly, it comes only days after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approved a proposal from Bharti Airtel for certain amendments, so as to allow foreign investor/FII, OCB/non-resident Indians to hold up to 74 per cent, or Rs 1,850 crore, of its equity capital of Rs 2,500 crore. The FIPB has sent it to the finance ministry for its approval.

Bharti had said the equity will be subscribed by various entities, including Pastel Ltd, Mauritius, Brentwood Investment Holdings, Mauritius, Palmobile Corporation, Coment (Mauritius) Ltd, New York Life International India Fund Mauritius Ltd, International Finance Corporation, Washington, Indian continent Investment Ltd, Mauritius, Russell AIF India Telecom Mauritius, AIF (Mauritius), India Telecom, Mauritius and Seejay Cellular, Mauritius.

Block deals have been a regular feature at the Bharti counter. It may be recalled that last year, records were created when Warburg Pincus sold its 6.04 per cent stake in the company in a deal worth Rs 2,467 crore, which made it the biggest block deal transacted at the exchanges. Warburg Pincus at one point of time was a major investor in Bharti and it held close to 18.52 per cent. At present, among the FIIs, Citigroup is the largest investor. The promoter holding in the company stands at 45.48 per cent.

The deal came on a day when the sensex staged a recovery of 175 points to end at 10684.30. After a weak start at 10461.73, the index gradually moved upwards to the intra-day high of 10704.78 before ending at 10684.30 from Friday’s close of 10509.53, a net rise of 174.77 points or 1.66 per cent.