Bharti shares open strong after Zain Africa deal
March 31st, 2010 - 10:45 am ICT by IANS
Mumbai, March 31 (IANS) The shares of India’s top telecom company Bharti Airtel opened strong on bourses here Wednesday, a day after it sealed a $10.7 billion deal to acquire the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain.
The bluechip, among the 30 scrips that are part of the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, opened at Rs.312.10 and soon moved up to Rs.316.50, against the previous close at Rs.310.95.
Some 10 minutes into trading, the scrip was up 1.33 percent at Rs.315.10.
The legally binding definitive agreement between the two groups was signed at Amsterdam late Tuesday, as the Dutch capital is the corporate headquarters for Zain’s African business.
The addition of the African business will make Bharti the fifth largest mobile phone service company in the world with 179 million subscribers, up two places. The deal covers 15 African countries in which Zain has a presence, excluding Morocco and Sudan.
“This agreement is a landmark for the global telecom industry and a game changer for Bharti,” chairman Sunil Mittal said in a statement. “More importantly, this transaction is a pioneering step towards South-South cooperation and strengthening of ties between India and Africa.”
Bharti Airtel is among Asia’s leading telecom service providers with operations in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. As on Jan 31, it had the largest market share of 23.33 percent in India’s mobile telephony segment with 121.71 million subscribers.
The Indian group had late last year failed to strike a deal for the second time with South Africa’s MTN.
The MTN deal, potentially worth $24 billion in cash and equity, envisaged Bharti getting a 49-percent stake in MTN, and the South African firm and its shareholders 36 percent equity in the Indian telecom major. But it got stuck over policy issues.
Now, MTN will be a major competitor in the territories the Indian company is entering.
- Kuwait's Zain approves Bharti's bid to connect with Africa (Lead) - Mar 25, 2010
- India's Bharti makes grand entry into Africa's telecom market - Mar 31, 2010
- Bharti to ink final agreement with Kuwait's Zain Tuesday - Mar 29, 2010
- Zain confirms nod to Bharti's offer for African telecom assets - Mar 25, 2010
- Kuwait's Zain accepts Bharti's offer for African assets - Mar 24, 2010
- Bharti starts fund-raiser to buy Zain's African assets - May 27, 2010
- Bharti ties up $8.3 bn deal with Kuwait's Zain Telecom - Mar 21, 2010
- Bharti starts 40-day talks to acquire Kuwait's Zain - Feb 15, 2010
- Africa deal makes Bharti world's 5th largest telecom firm - Jun 08, 2010
- Bharti Airtel reports 32 percent drop in net profit - Aug 11, 2010
- 100 million African subscribers in next two years: Airtel - Nov 16, 2010
- Bharti scrip falls another 4.54 percent, loses 13 percent in 2 days (Lead) - Feb 16, 2010
- Bharti is world's 5th largest telecom firm after Africa deal (Roundup) - Jun 08, 2010
- Bharti scrip sinks 3.19 percent in afternoon trade - Feb 16, 2010
- IBM to manage Bharti Airtel's IT operations in Africa - Sep 17, 2010
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