Mittal meets Sharma; discusses MTN deal

Amidst the ongoing talks for acquiring 49 per cent stake in South Africa's MTN, Bharti chief Sunil Mittal today met Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.

When asked whether MTN's largest shareholder Public Investment Corporation has asked for a revised offer from Bharti and if so whether the company was considering, Mittal, emerging from the meeting, told PTI that "nobody has come to us".

He also asserted that the company will meet all the regulatory compliances. "I am sure everything will be fine. There is no regulatory requirement from our side as we have said earlier we will be compliant with all the policies of the country."

When asked if he is anticipating the deal to be completed soon, he said, "I cannot give any time... Work is going on. He further added, "Lets' see what happens. We are in talks."

Bharti has reopened talks for acquiring 49 per cent stake with South African MTN in an estimated $23 billion deal, exactly a year after it pulled out of negotiations alleging that the foreign company had deviated from agreement.

Meanwhile, the government today said it has asked Bharti to furnish all details of its proposed $23 billion deal with South African company MTN for legal scrutiny.

"We have asked for formal request/papers about the deal from the company... There seems to be no problem with the deal but still we want to be sure (about the compliance)," Salman Khursheed, Minister of Corporate Affairs said.

The two companies have signed an agreement to hold exclusive talks for a deal that could include $10 billion in cash and $13 billion in shares and see emergence of a combined entity of $20 billion in terms of revenue and 200 billion subscribers globally.