Bharti Airtel, MTN call off merger talks

MUMBAI, INDIA: India's Bharti Airtel said late on Wednesday it and South Africa's MTN had called off talks for a planned tie-up due to the inability of the South African government to accept the deal in current form.

Bharti said it hoped the South African government would review its position in the future and allow both companies to re-engage.

Bharti and MTN revived merger talks in May, a year after previous talks broke down over who would control a merged entity. A merger would create an emerging markets giant with more than 200 million customers across India, Africa and the Middle East.

The talks had been extended twice and the present deadline was until Wednesday.

The deal faced scrutiny from regulators and politicians. South Africa is eager to retain MTN's national character and had approached Indian authorities to consider a dual-listed entity, a structure Indian laws currently do not allow.

However, MTN declined to comment on the statement by Bharti Airtel, and sid that it would issue a statement later on Wednesday.

"We will send out a statement later on," MTN spokeswoman Nozipho January-Bardill said.

Meanwhile, South Africa's rand extended its losses against the dollar on Wednesday after Bharti Airtel said it was calling off talks with MTN. The rand ZAR=D3 fell over 2 percent to as much as 7.62 against the dollar, from Tuesday's New York close of 7.43. It last traded at 7.5650.