Vodafone, RCom may stay out of MTN race
In such as scenario, the only serious competitors to Bharti Airtel may turn out to be China Mobile and Orascom. Hot handsets | Nokia 6220 Classic
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: UK-based Vodafone and Reliance Communications (RCom), who were being touted as potential bidders for South Africa���s MTN, are likely to stay out of the race.
In such as scenario, the only serious competitors to Bharti Airtel may turn out to be China Mobile and Orascom. However, so far, there have been no official confirmations from either of these companies even as speculation is rife that these players were potential rival bidders to Bharti.
When asked if Vodafone was bidding for MTN, the company���s spokesperson in UK in a written reply said: ���Vodafone remains committed to its partnership with Telkom in South Africa, in Vodacom.���
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Vodafone owns 50% stake in vodacom, south africa���s largest mobile operator. et has also learnt from sources that rcOM was not interested in MTN given its high valuation. When contacted, the company spokesperson declined to comment.
This comes even as analysts at UBS share the view that multiple players could be interested in acquiring a controlling stake in MTN.
���We believe that Bharti���s share price could come under pressure in the short term as we expect multiple bidders for MTN putting upward pressure on the acquisition price. Vodafone, Reliance Communications and China Mobile have been reported as interested in bidding for MTN,��� UBS said in a report.
At the same time, it must also be pointed out that Vodafone had earlier made several attempts to buy out MTN, but had failed to do so.
Vodafone, the world���s largest mobile phone company by revenue, had engaged the pursuit of MTN after the South African government blocked it from purchasing a controlling stake in Vodacom. But the talks were called off recently as discussions between Vodafone and MTN failed to make headway.
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China Mobile in the past had said that it was looking at new markets to expand. At present, the world���s largest telco, in terms of subscriber base hardly has a presence outside China. On the other hand, Orascom is present in Africa and Asia and is amongst the largest telcos in the region. Analysts also say that other suitors may emerge as in the case of the India���s Hutchison Essar last year. Vodafone had won a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar after a prolonged bidding war with several contenders which included RCom and Hinduja Group.
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