Bharti Airtel has secured $5bn in funding from a group of international and local banks, bringing the Indian telecoms group a step closer to finalising a deal with South Africa’s MTN that will create the world’s third-largest telecoms operator by subscribers.
Last week Bharti and MTN – which each have 100m subscribers – agreed to extend the exclusivity period for talks by another month to September 30, saying “no decision or agreement to acquire any shares or implement the potential transaction outlined” had been agreed.
