Bharti starts fund-raiser to buy Zain’s African assets
May 27th, 2010 - 8:31 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, May 27 (IANS) India’s Bharti Airtel Thursday said it has begun the process of raising funds for the $10.7 billion deal to acquire the African assets of Kuwait’s Zain that will make it the world’s fifth largest mobile telecom firm.
“Further to our announcement dated March 30, 2010 regarding the proposed acquisition of Zain Africa BV, Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to report that it has initiated the funds drawdown for the completion of the said transaction,” the company said in a statement.
Zain’s acquisition is the largest overseas acquisition of assets in Africa by an Indian company, even though it does not cover the assets of Zain in Sudan and Morocco.
Post-acquisition, Bharti will become the world’s fifth largest wireless company with operations across 18 countries. Its total customer base will reach over 180 million, including Zain Africa’s mobile operations in 15 countries with over 42 million customers.
This is Bharti’s third attempt to enter the largely untapped African market after failing to enter into a merger pact with South Africa’s MTN on two occasions. Africa accounts a little over 60 percent of Zain’s 71.8 million customers.
Bharti Airtel is among Asia’s leading telecom service providers with operations in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
As on March 31, it had the largest market share of 30.16 percent in India’s mobile telephony segment with 130.6 million subscribers.
- India's Bharti makes grand entry into Africa's telecom market - Mar 31, 2010
- Africa deal makes Bharti world's 5th largest telecom firm - Jun 08, 2010
- Kuwait's Zain approves Bharti's bid to connect with Africa (Lead) - Mar 25, 2010
- Bharti to ink final agreement with Kuwait's Zain Tuesday - Mar 29, 2010
- Kuwait's Zain accepts Bharti's offer for African assets - Mar 24, 2010
- Zain confirms nod to Bharti's offer for African telecom assets - Mar 25, 2010
- Bharti starts 40-day talks to acquire Kuwait's Zain - Feb 15, 2010
- Bharti is world's 5th largest telecom firm after Africa deal (Roundup) - Jun 08, 2010
- Bharti Airtel signs network expansion deal with Huawei - Jun 01, 2011
- 100 million African subscribers in next two years: Airtel - Nov 16, 2010
- Airtel ranked best operator by Nigerian telecom regulator - May 11, 2012
- Airtel revenue rises in Africa - May 02, 2012
- Bharti shares open strong after Zain Africa deal - Mar 31, 2010
- Bharti Airtel to acquire Telecom Seychelles for $62 million - Aug 11, 2010
- Airtel touches 50 million customers mark in Africa - Nov 30, 2011
Tags: 6 million, assets, bharti airtel ltd, bv, customer base, fund raiser, market share, merger, million subscribers, mobile operations, mobile telecom, mobile telephony, mtn, New Delhi, overseas acquisition, pact, telecom firm, telecom service providers, third attempt, two occasions