Bharti Airtel may bid for South Africa's MTN for overseas expansion

26 April 2008

Bharti Airtel, the country's largest private telecom company, is reported to be considering a bid for South African telecom firm MTN, as the Sunil Mittal-led firm tries to expand its global footprint. Bharti, however, declined to be specific about its acquisition plans.

''I think the company is now ready to go further. Anything that is medium-to-meaningful will form a part of Airtel as and when the opportunity arises,'' Mittal told shareholders while announcing the company's results. ''We always remain open to opportunities outside India. Now, the company is in a position where it must have ambitions to grow beyond the Indian shores,'' he added.

''The size (of acquisition) is something we determine from time-to-time. For international acquisitions, our consideration will be that the company should be value-accretive and good for Bharti Airtel and for the shareholders,'' Bharti's joint managing director Akhil Gupta said, adding, it should not be so ''tiny'' that it does not attract attention.

"We cannot talk on specific proposals. But we are interested in looking at offers which fit into our strategy," he said.

An acquisition of MTN, which has operations in over 20 countries, could catapult Bharti Mittal into the top league of global telecom players.

MTN, with 68.2 million subscribers and operations in South Africa, Nigeria and Iran, has a market capitalisation of $33 billion.