Bharti time

6 May 2008 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

The Indian mobile operator is reportedly eyeing a $37bn bid for South Africa s MTN. There s industrial logic to a deal and Bharti s hot share price gives it a strong currency. But there could be a fight for MTN’s plum spots in fastgrowing African markets.

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MTN Group, the South African mobile telecom operator, said it had entered into exploratory talks with Bharti Airtel, the Indian mobile group owned by Indian tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal, which might lead to Bharti making an offer.

Though neither group gave specific details, Bharti has made an offer for 51% of MTN that values the whole company at around $37bn, according to the Financial Times. A combined group would have a market value of around $80bn.

MTN has over 61m subscribers, and strong market positions in Africa and the Middle East. It holds 35% of the South African market, where it is the number two operator, and is the market leader in Nigeria, Ghana and Syria.

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