Bharti Airtel is in talks with American private equity firm Warburg Pincus to raise as much as $1.5 billion by selling up to 15 percent stake in its Dutch unit, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV, The Economic Times reported on Thursday.

The deal will be followed by a listing of Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands), which runs Bharti's operations in 14 African nations, the report said citing two people familiar with the matter.

The listing will help the company repay some of its Rs 95,000 crore debt and fend off competition in the Indian market, as per the report.

Both the transactions are likely to be completed by December, the report said.