Bharti: no comment on Cell C
Bharti Airtel, the India based operator, and Cell C, have refused to comment on market rumours of a potential tie-up between the two companies.
It follows an article in the Sunday Times (2 November), which cited a source close to Bharti Airtel Africa as saying that Bharti was eyeing further expansion into Africa following a failed bid in 2009 for a stake in MTN.
Bharti Airtel, with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa (with 17 in Africa alone), is the third largest network globally with over 260 million subscribers
Amid rising speculation of a potential play into South Africa through a purchase agreement with Cell C, a Bharti spokesperson told BusinessTech: “As a company policy, we do not comment on market speculations.”
“Any change in ownership would be a shareholder matter and we do not comment on such matters. We also do not comment on market rumour or speculation,” Cell C said.
The rumour adds to recent market speculation of a potential tie-up between Telkom’s mobile arm 8ta, and Cell C.
Last month however, Telkom CEO Nombulelo Moholi dismissed the speculation saying that the Telkom board was not looking at any deal between the two operations.
Telkom CFO Jacques Schindehütte said that he was not overly optimistic that a merger between Telkom and Cell C would significantly benefit Telkom.
In September, Bharti entered into a strategic co-operation agreement with South African financial services group, Sanlam, for the distribution of insurance and health funding products.
The non-exclusive deal covers seven African countries, namely Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria, in which both companies have a presence.
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