For Mittal, deal with MTN was a high-stake game

This was one deal that India Inc���s poster boy Sunil Mittal desperately wanted, but did not get. He had staked a lot, rallied the clout of the entire government and conceded just about everything his potential partner wanted.

He knew from the very beginning of the negotiations with South Africa���s MTN that a favourable stance by the Indian government could possibly swing the deal in his favour. As the cry of ���national pride��� grew shriller in South Africa, Mr Mittal increased the frequency of his visits to New Delhi���s corridors of power.

He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at least thrice and the finance minister many more times in the past few months, as the deadline for the deal got extended twice. The Indian government, too, possibly did its bit. At the G20 meet a few days ago, the Prime Minister went out of his way to hold an unscheduled meeting with South African president Jacob Zuma, asking him to ensure that the Indian telco is not discriminated against when the fate of MTN is decided. This didn���t quite have the impact Mr Mittal had desired.

Bharti Airtel had already made several concessions to MTN in its last-minute effort to sew up a deal. Bharti offered to retain the top management of MTN for at least three years, gave the option of an all-cash offer to minority holders of MTN, and more shares in itself for the same money.

In order to pacify the South African government which had been keen on retaining the company���s national character, Bharti Airtel offered that MTN chairman Cyril Ramaphosa, CEO Phuthuma Nhleko and incoming CFO Nazir Patel retain their posts for at least three years.

The Indian company also offered to hold unchanged its 49% stake in MTN for at least five years. The offer also proposed to give MTN a 27% stake in Bharti Airtel compared with 25% when the contours of the deal were first unveiled in May.
Also as part of the concessions, Mr Mittal offered MTN���s minority shareholders the option to take $13 billion in cash instead of the $7 billion in cash and $6 billion worth of Bharti Airtel shares proposed earlier.