India's Bharti Airtel, MTN Call Off Merger Talks

ERIKA KINETZ

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Talks between Indian telecommunications leader Bharti Airtel Ltd. and South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. collapsed Wednesday after four months of negotiations over a possible merger, officials said.

The talks could have opened the way for the creation of an emerging markets mobile phone giant with $20 billion in combined revenues and a subscriber base of over 200 million.

Bharti put the blame on South Africa, saying in a statement that the government "has expressed its inability to accept" the structure of the merger.

"In view of this, both companies have taken the decision to disengage from discussion," it continued. "We hope the South African government will review its position in the future and allow both companies an opportunity to re-engage."

The two companies are both leaders in their respective markets, and Bharti said it would continue to "explore international expansion opportunities."

Bharti officials declined to provide further details Wednesday night.

South Africa's National Treasury said in a Wednesday statement that MTN executives met with Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan Wednesday morning and told him the two companies called off talks because "they were not able to conclude all outstanding matters to enable the transaction to proceed."