New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it doesn't need to place a bid for MTN. It doesn’t.
CNBC TV18 learns from sources that Bharti may be looking at a join venture or merger—a fact corroborated by the company’s statement that there is no requirement for a bid.
But there have been questions raised about other interested parties and other potential bidders. CNBC-TV 18 learns from reliable sources that the 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 the Bharti-MTN talks lead to some sort of conclusion. CNBC-TV 18 learns that 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," a reliable source told CNBC-TV 18.
Sources say that Bharti and MTN are just five-six days away from getting there. It is then that the process of due diligence will begin. When contacted by CNBC-TV 18, a Bharti Spokesperson said: "We have nothing to add to our last statement." MTN also declined further comment.
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