MTN going back to Bharti! South African media speculates

Mon, Jul 14 04:59 PM

Johannesburg, July 14 (PTI) The South African media has started speculating that the country's telecom giant MTN could look at a "less controversial" deal with Bharti Airtel instead of RCOM, a group firm of Anil Ambani because of his feud with elder brother Mukesh. The reports about such speculations are surfacing in South African and London media even after MTN and RCOM extended their exclusivity agreement for negotiations from July 8 till July 21.

"The original, less controversial merger with Bharti Airtel could be back on the cards," a report in South African daily The Times said, adding that this could be due to MTN wanting a "clean deal". "Media frenzy surrounding MTN's proposed merger with Reliance Communications is probably creating a useful smokescreen to allow it explore opportunities in other countries well away from the spotlight," another South African daily Business Day reported.

RCOM and MTN had first announced the start of their exclusive talks on May 26 after the South African firm's talks fell apart for a possible deal with Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, RCOM's rival telecom operator in India. PTI.

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