Bharti-Zain deal 'attractive and mutually beneficial': India

KUWAIT: India has welcomed telecom giant Bharti Airtel's plan to acquire Kuwait-based Zain's African operations, saying it was a deal that would be "attractive and mutually beneficial" for both the partners.

Issuing a statement on Bharti's $10.7 billion offer to buy Zain's African assets, other than those in Sudan and Morocco, India's Ambassador to Kuwait Ajai Malhotra said: "It is always most welcome when our companies pursue arrangements that both partners consider to be attractive and mutually beneficial, as is the case in the present instant.

"I am pleased that a leading Indian company, Bharti Airtel and Zain are engeged in exclusive discussions for the acquisition by Bharti of Zain's African operations, excluding those in Morocco and Sudan," the Indian envoy said while replying to media queries.



With the acquisition of Zain's African operations, Bharti would get access to nearly 42 million subscribers over and above the 125 million user base in the Indian market.

This is Bharti's third attempt to enter the fast growing African market with potential for higher growth in the coming years.

The Indian telecom sector has been one of the major success stories in the post-liberalisation era in India, Malhotra said.

Bharti has offered an enterprise value of $10.7 billion to acquire Zain's operations, of which $1.7 billion would be debt. The company has said that actual outgo would be only $9 billion for the deal.