MTN seeks trading suspension till tomorrow

JOHANNESBURG: MTN on Wednesday sought suspension in trading of its shares in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange till tomorrow, after Indian telecom player Bharti called off the proposed deal with the South African telecom giant.

"The JSE has been requested by MTN to suspend trading in its securities until the commencement of business on Thursday, 1 October 2009," the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) said in a statement.

Shares of MTN today plunged nearly two per cent, after Bharti Airtel called off its discussions with the South African telecom major for the proposed USD 23-billion merger deal.

The shares of MTN were trading down 1.87 per cent at 121 rand on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in late afternoon trade. The proposed USD 23-billion deal for the merger of Bharti Airtel and South African giant MTN, today fell through.

Sunil Mittal-led Bharti called off discussions with MTN citing the South African government's rejection of the proposed merger structure, which would have created the world's third-largest telecom company with combined revenues of over USD 20 billion annually and a subscriber base of over 200 million.