|
|
Nigeria: MTN to Merge With India's Bharti Airtel
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
This Day (Lagos)
20 May 2008
Posted to the web 20 May 2008
Constance Ikokwu
Washington, D.C
South African telecommuni-cations giant, MTN and India's largest mobile-phone company, Bharti Airtel, are discussing a merger that will give each partner an equal share in a new company, poised to capture the market in emerging economies.
The Financial Times of London reported yesterday that both companies would fill executive positions on an equal basis. Bharti's Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal, will become chairman of the merged firm and MTN's Chief Executive Officer, Phuthuma Nhleko, will take the position of chief executive.
It is unclear how this will affect MTN's operations in Africa particularly in Nigeria where it has a strong market. But the report says the new arrangement is part of discussions by Bharti to buy MTN in a cash and stock deal that allows MTN's shareholders to have a significant stake in the new company. Bharti, the report says, is considering paying R165-R175 a share for MTN. This will value MTN's equity at $41b-$44bn. The South African company also wants the deal to be seen as a merger, so as not to give the impression that one of the country's largest companies is foreign owned. As a result, Bharti will pay for the deal with cash and stock. The stock is expected to be issued to MTN shareholders through a dual listing of Bharti's shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Singapore Telecommuni-cations which owns 31 per cent of Bharti would play a significant role in financing the deal, says the report.
Bharti-MTN hopes to become a telecoms powerhouse with more than 120 million customers in 22 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South Asia. The merger will put it in a position to rival America Movil, Latin America's leading mobile-phone company.
|
It will however be smaller than the Vodafone which is the world's largest mobile group by market capitalisation and revenue, Vodafone. The Bharti-MTN deal is yet to be finalised.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
