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Bharti-MTN deal not in DoT's purview: Raja

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW DELHI, INDIA: The merger deal between India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN is not under the ambit of the Ministry of Communications and it is being dealt by the Finance Ministry, said Union Minister for Telecommunications and IT, A.Raja.

“Whatever  case they may place with us, we will see it as per the law of the land,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an even here today. “The question of the court intervening in the deal does not arise right now.

The minister also said that licence condition is in the domain of the TRAI. “If something comes up in the licence issue, we will refer it to TRAI,” he added.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Bharti Airtel has offered to retain the top management at MTN for at least three years and given the option of an all-cash offer to minority MTN shareholders to sew up the planned tie-up between the two firms.

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An Economic Times report, citing a person familiar with the revised tie-up plan, said MTN would get a 27-per cent stake in Bharti instead of the 25 per cent earlier proposed.

MTN's minority shareholders would have the option to take $13 billion in cash instead of $7 billion cash and $6 billion worth of stock, the paper said.

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Bharti would also cap its holding in MTN at 49 per cent for at least five years. These moves would pacify the South African government keen on retaining MTN's national character, the paper said.

A Bharti Airtel spokesman said the company would not like to comment beyond an earlier statement. The company had said on September 9 that despite reports in the media, no agreement had been reached between the two companies and discussions were still ongoing.

The planned tie-up between the two firms, which may lead to an eventual merger, would create the world's third-largest mobile phone group by subscribers but is subject to end-September deadline. The firms have extended the talks twice.

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