Bharti Airtel Confirms Talks With South Africa's MTN

BANGALORE -(Dow Jones)- In a statement, Bharti Airtel has confirmed that it has started exploratory talks with South Africa's MTN Group in a bid to expand its global footprint.

"Current discussions are still at an early stage, are exploratory in nature and may or may not lead to any transaction," Bharti Airtel said in a news release.

Separately, the South Africa-based company also said that it's in talks with Bharti, "which, if successfully concluded, may have a material effect on the price of the company's securities. The discussions are exploratory in nature and may or may not lead to any transaction."

The news comes after recent media reports that said Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecommunications company by number of subscribers, was considering a bid for MTN, Africa's largest mobile phone network operator.

Responding to media reports, MTN said on April 25 that although it receives tentative approaches from time to time, its board hasn't received any specific proposal.

A week later, on May 2, Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal said the company hadn't put in a bid for MTN.

Bharti is the biggest telecommunications player in India, which is the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world, adding more than 8 million subscribers a month.

Bharti, with market capitalization of about $44 billion, currently has about 64 million subscribers, while MTN, with a market cap of about $35 billion, has about 68 million users.

Among its overseas expansion moves, Bharti was recently given a license to provide mobile services in Sri Lanka.

-By Romit Guha, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-9900181471; romit.guha@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 5th May 2008