Bharti talks shift to full takeover of MTN

Bharti's talks with South African mobile operator MTN Group Ltd are now centered on a full takeover by the Indian operator for a combination of cash and stock, The Wall Street Journal said quoting a person familiar with the situation.

"Bharti still wants majority control (a 51 per cent stake) but MTN prefers a full takeover which in South Africa can be portrayed as a merger of equals. Talks this week are focused on this (full takeover) and ways it could be done," WSJ said in a report posted online.

The person said Bharti was considering paying as much as $20 billion in cash, said the paper.

Bharti on Tuesday said it was in talks with MTN to "combine the strengths of the two leading players from emerging markets, and is accordingly veering toward possible structures to achieve this objective".

Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal is understood to have held talks with the South African telecom major MTN's top management in London yesterday to work out a broad scheme of arrangements for a possible merger between the two companies.

Mittal met MTN Chairman M C Ramaphosa, CEO P F Nhleko and single majority stakeholder Azim Mikati to put forward Bharti's proposals in which the Delhi-based company is said to have insisted on 'exclusivity agreement' with MTN.