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Bharti Airtel is in talks to buy out Warid Group’s telecom business in Congo. Talks between the two companies are at an advanced stage and a deal could be announced in the next one month.
Sources close to the negotiations said that the nature of the deal is to be finalised but the two companies have agreed for a strategic partnership in Congo.
Top executives of the Warid Group had recently met high ranking Government functionaries of Congo in a bid to assuage concerns related to employees and consumers, should a deal happen.
Warid Group has been looking to sell stake in its Congo operations for a while now.
Earlier moves
Earlier the Abu Dhabi-based company had struck a deal with the Essar Group to sell stake in Uganda and Congo. However the deal did not go through after Essar pulled out citing difficulty in getting regulatory clearance.
In April, Bharti Airtel had announced that it will buy out Warid Group’s telecom business in Uganda as part of its strategy to increase penetration in Africa. The deal size was estimated to be around $100 million.
Consolidation
The Congo deal, if it goes through, will help Airtel consolidate its leadership in that country. But market sources said that there are other companies in the fray eyeing Warid’s stake.
When contacted, Bharti Airtel’s spokesperson declined to comment and an email sent to Warid Group did not elicit any response. Airtel has a presence across 17 African countries with over 74 million customers at the end of quarter ended September 30, 2013.
African mobile market grew at CAGR of 9.2 per cent and Airtel’s growth over the same period was 13.8 per cent. Revenue from international operations now accounts for 35 per cent of the operator’s total income compared with 27 per cent three years back.
Growing market
“Africa markets are coming back to growth. After three tough quarters, markets are buzzing once again and showing good growth momentum.
“Mobile customer base is back to growth, rates are stable, mobile internet is growing and m-commerce is booming,” Manoj Kohli, CEO of Airtel’s international operations had said during the conference to announce the second quarter earnings.
> thomas.thomas@thehindu.co.in
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