Bharti Airtel re-dials MTN

Bharti Airtel announced that it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group Ltd and is exploring a potential transaction whereby, pursuant to a scheme of arrangement, Bhatri would acquire a 49% shareholding in MTN and, in turn, MTN and its shareholders would acquire an around 36% economic interest in Bharti, of which 25% would be held by MTN with the remainder held directly by MTN shareholders. Bharti and MTN have agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively with one another until July 31, 2009.

The potential transaction between Bharti and MTN would create a leading telecommunications service provider group aligning Bharti's market leading Indian business with MTN's market leading African and Middle Eastern operations. The broader strategic objective would be to achieve a full merger of MTN and Bharti as soon as it is practicable to create a leading emerging market telecom operator which today would have combined revenues of over US$20bn and a combined consumer base over of over 200mn.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti 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. We see real power in the combination and we will work hard to unleash it for all our shareholders. This opportunity also represents a first of its kind in developing an Indian-African initiative that would serve as shining example of South-South cooperation."