CORRECTED - Safaricom, Bharti receive conditional approval to buy Kenyan rival

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's telecoms regulator granted conditional approval to the nation's biggest telecoms operators, Safaricom and the local unit of Bharti Airtel to buy the No. 3 network, Yu, operated by Essar Telecoms.

The regulator said on Friday it would approve the deal, subject to Safaricom and Airtel each paying a $5.4 million fee for the licence belonging to YU.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by James Macharia)