Communications ministry not involved in Bharti-MTN deal: Raja
September 22nd, 2009 - 3:04 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Communications and IT Minister A. Raja Tuesday said the proposed $23-billion deal between telecom majors Bharti Airtel and South Africa’s MTN was not under his ministry’s ambit.
“The deal is not within the domain of our ministry,” Raja said.
He said as far as he knew, the finance ministry was dealing with the issue. “The question of supporting the deal will not come right now. Whatever may be, it will be placed before us, then I will see.”
A South African government delegation led by a senior treasury department official is scheduled to meet Indian government officials Tuesday to push the deal. The team will reportedly also meet officials of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market regulator.
Bharti proposes to buy 36 percent of the South African company by offering shareholders half a Bharti share, whereas MTN will get a 25 percent stake in Bharti for $2.9 billion and through issuing new shares equal to 25 percent of its share capital.
The potential transaction between the two companies is proposed to create a leading telecom service provider group, aligning Bharti’s market-leading Indian business with MTN’s growing African and Middle Eastern operations.
Bharti had ended talks with MTN last year, rejecting the proposal that would have made the Indian firm a subsidiary of MTN. Following that, the South African group started negotiations with the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which also failed.
However, Bharti and MTN started negotiations again May 25 this year to forge an alliance that would make it the biggest deal ever in the industry.
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- Bharti stock down 3.28 percent as MTN deal gets costlier (Lead) - Sep 22, 2009
- Bharti stock down 3 percent as MTN deal gets costlier - Sep 22, 2009
- Bharti, South Africa's MTN extend pact talks (Lead) - Aug 20, 2009
- Bharti redials for swap talks with South Africa's MTN (Lead) - May 25, 2009
- Regulator exempts MTN from open offer for Airtel shares - Jul 07, 2009
- We intend to close MTN deal this time: Bharti - May 30, 2009
- Bharti, MTN yet to finalise merger deal - Jul 31, 2009
- Bharti, South African telecom firm resume talks to swap stakes - May 25, 2009
- Bharti, South Africa's MTN extend pact talks to Aug 31 (Lead) - Aug 03, 2009
- India's new takeover norms may scuttle Bharti-MTN deal - Sep 22, 2009
- Bharti, South Africa's MTN extend alliance talks to Aug 31 - Aug 03, 2009
- Bharti redials for strategic ties with South Africa's MTN (Roundup) - May 25, 2009
- India's Bharti makes grand entry into Africa's telecom market - Mar 31, 2010
- Government may support Bharti-MTN deal - Sep 24, 2009
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