Bharti makes most expensive buyout bid for SA company

GOING PLACES: Bharti has bid close to $19 bn for a 51 per cent stake in South African telecom company MTN.

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Keywords: Bharti Airtel, MTN

New Delhi: In what is the most expensive bid for a buyout by an Indian company, Bharti Airtel has bid close to $19 billion for a 51 per cent stake in the South African telecom company MTN.

Bharti has secured $12 billion of financing from Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered and the remaining funding will be through issue of equity to MTN shareholders.

The Financial Times, quoting sources, said Bharti's bid is at $21.8 a share but MTN is looking for $23.8 dollars a share.

MTN is a big player in Africa and the Middle-East.

The South African mobile company MTN released a statement on Monday evening, in which it said it was engaged in discussions with Bharti Artel.

"The discussions are exploratory in nature and may or may not lead to any transaction. Accordingly, shareholders are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the company's securities until a further announcement is made," the statement said.

Bharti executives had stoutly denied the company’s interest in MTN when initial reports had surfaced in April.

Bharti chief Sunil Bharti Mittal had cautiously told the Financial Times, "We're delighted that they've chosen to talk to us. It confirms Airtel's standing in global telecoms, but whether it will lead to anything, I don't know."

Sources say, though, that it is unlikely that the MTN board would sell 100 per cent of the company to foreign bidders.

IANS adds: The two companies have a market value which is reasonably similar – Bharti Airtel is valued at about $44 billion and MTN at $35 billion. MTN has more than 68 million clients in Africa and the Middle East.