MTN board clears talks exclusively with Bharti: Srcs

By Shereen Bhan & Sandeep Gurumurthi/CNBC-TV18

Sources told CNBC-TV18 that the MTN board has cleared talks exclusively with Bharti. There is no stress on the exclusivity agreement, they added.

Other potential suitors will now have to wait for Bharti-MTN talks to take a decisive turn.

On Tuesday, Bharti Airtel said it doesn't need to place a bid for MTN. In fact, sources said Bharti might be looking at a JV or merger, a fact corroborated by Bharti's statement that there is no requirement for a bid. But there have been questions raised about other interested parties and potential bidders.

Sources said talks that have been approved by the MTN board with Bharti Airtel are exclusive. Even though both companies maintain that talks are exploratory in nature. The understanding is that as of now no other company would be approached or invited for talks. So, that automatically rules out any other potential bidder like Etisalat at least till the fate of Bharti-MTN talks lead to some sort of conclusion.

Bharti is not pushing for an exclusivity pact which may eventually get signed once a term sheet is in place. "There is no stress on signing an exclusivity pact. If talks succeed, then there will be an exclusivity agreement. This is part of the process. This is known to all and hence not up for discussion," sources said.

They added that Bharti and MTN are just 5-6 days away from getting there. It is then that the process of due diligence will begin. A Bharti spokesperson said, "We have nothing to add to our last statement." MTN also declined further comment.

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