Bharti Airtel renews talks to acquire 49% stake in MTN (India, South Africa)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Bharti Airtel, India’s leading mobile operator has renewed its effort to acquire 49% stake in MTN, the South African giant and the two telcos have again agreed to discuss the potential transaction by 31 July 2009.

If the transaction materialises, the combined entity will have revenues over $20 billion and a subscriber base of over 200 million.

“Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to announce that it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group. Bharti would acquire a 49% shareholding in MTN and, in turn, MTN and its shareholders would acquire an approximate 36% economic interest in Bharti, of which 25% would be held by MTN with the remainder held directly by MTN shareholders,” Bharti said in a statement.
Bharti CMD Sunil Bharti Mittal said: “We are delighted at the prospect of developing a partnership with MTN to create an emerging market telecom powerhouse. Both companies would stand to gain significant benefits from sharing each other’s best practices in addition to savings emanating from enhanced scale.”