Bharti hopeful of Zain deal

Bharti Airtel today said it is hopeful of clinching the $10.7-billion deal with Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain for its African assets, for which the two companies are in exclusive talks till March 25.

"We are very hopeful (of the deal)," Rajan Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises, said on the sidelines of a Ficci conference. Bharti Airtel is a group company of Bharti Enterprises.

When asked if there is a need to extend the period of exclusive talks with Zain beyond March 25, Mittal said it was still too early to talk about extension.

Mittal, who has recently taken over as the president of Ficci, declined to comment on the proposed deal further.

Last month, Bharti Airtel said it had entered into exclusive talks with Zain for acquiring its African operations based on an enterprise value of $10.7 billion until March 25, 2010. The deal does not include Zain's operations in Morocco and Sudan.

Bharti said the completion of the deal remains subject to due diligence, customary regulatory approvals and findings of the final transaction documentation.

Last year in September, Bharti's talk with South African company MTN for a $23-billion merger deal fell through due to various regulatory approvals, including dual listing.