SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - Singtel joint venture company Bharti Airtel has announced a new corporate structure to "sharpen (its) focus on digital", which will also enable it to unlock value, it said in a statement on Wednesday (April 14).

Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said: "The new structure sets the exciting future course for Bharti Airtel and provides focus on the four distinct businesses - digital, India, international and infrastructure, each, in a razor-sharp way."

Under the new structure, Airtel Digital will be folded into the listed entity, Bharti Airtel. This would house all its digital assets, such as Wynk Music, Airtel Xstream and the Mitra Payments platform.

In the India segment, Bharti Airtel intends to house all the telecom businesses under a newly-created entity, Airtel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel. The company intends for Bharti Telemedia, which operates direct-to-home television services, to be eventually folded into Airtel.

Airtel Payments Bank will continue to remain a separate entity under Bharti Airtel, and will work closely with its growing customer base to realise the digital opportunity that payments and financial services provide, the company said.

Entities in the company's infrastructure business, as well as its international subsidiaries and affiliates, will continue to remain in separate entities, as they are currently, Bharti Airtel said.

Mr Mittal said: "We believe this will provide agility, expertise and operational rigour to serve our customers brilliantly, while providing flexibility to unlock value for our shareholders. This structure will serve us well over the coming years and is a win-win for all stakeholders."

Singtel shares were trading up one cent, or 0.4 per cent, at $2.43 as at 3.16pm on Thursday, after the announcement.