UAE's Etisalat to join bid for MTN

Emirates Telecommunications Corp of UAE (Etisalat) on Monday became the second international bidder after Bharti Airtel to join the race to pick up a stake in South Africa's MTN. Etisalat, which has operations in Pakistan among 16 countries, confirmed its intent to news persons at a telecom conference in Cairo.

Meanwhile, according to industry sources, Bharti Airtel, if successful in acquiring MTN, is looking at merging the two companies instead of keeping them as two independent entities.

"We are always looking for expansion in Africa," Etisalat chairman Mohammed Omran was quoted as stating by international wire agencies. "We are evaluating MTN, among other companies. I see that within three-to-four years revenue from Africa will not be less than 25%," Omran said.

This is the first time after Bharti that any global telecom player has stated on record its interest in acquiring MTN, which has 68 million subscribers from operations spanning 21 countries of South Africa and Middle East.

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Vodafone may enter MTN race

The bidding war for South African telecom major MTN may have just started, with the largest telecom company by revenues, Vodafone, too eyeing MTN. According to foreign media reports, the company is examining a £20 billion ($39.02 billion) bid for MTN.

However, a Vodafone spokesperson told a foreign news agency in London that, “we have no intention of pursuing a bid for MTN.” Vodafone is the second largest mobile operator with about 250 million subscribers worldwide and acquisition of MTN would add the latter’s 68 million users to its fold, taking it closer to China Mobile, which is the world’s largest mobile company by subscriber base close to 400 million.

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