BackBharti working on revised MTN deal
Bharti working on revised MTN deal
PremiumNew Delhi: Bharti Airtel is working on a revised offer for a possible deal with South Africa’s MTN, which may entail higher cash outgo and additional debt to be raised by the Indian company to fund the transaction, sources said.
While there is still no certainty about the closure of the deal, the two sides are believed to be working on finalising the terms and conditions over next few weeks.
After their earlier exclusive talks period ended on 31 July, the two companies extended it by a month and now have time till 31 August.
Bharti Airtel is in talks with MTN group for a share-swap deal to create a $23 billion telecom entity is likely to seek more bank loans to fund the transaction, said sources.
Bharti, which had earlier stated that the terms of the potential deal may be adjusted, is learnt to be working out the revised terms on MTN share price increase and raising the cash component in the deal.
The source said in both cases the outgo are likely to be much higher than the originally estimated four billion dollar for which Bharti has already approached the PSU bank State Bank of India for $2 billion.
When contacted a Bharti spokesperson said, “Beyond what we have already communicated in our press statement, we have no further comment to offer at the moment."
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