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Monday June 29, 11:40 PM
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Bharti Airtel yet to talk with govts on MTN deal
By Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - The Chairman of India's Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 283.65 +2.65
) said on Monday the group had not yet held talks with the Indian or South African governments about a proposed merger with Africa's biggest mobile operator MTN Group.
"I'm sure that when we approach them (the governments) in the appropriate time we will get a very good response," Bharti Airtel's Chairman Sunil Mittal told Reuters on the sidelines of the Global Leadership Summit in London.
MTN and Bharti, India's leading cellular firm, have revived talks aimed at creating the world's third-biggest wireless group with more than 200 million subscribers and combined revenue of $20 billion.
Asked whether he felt the regulators could scupper a potential deal, Mittal said Bharti Airtel would "meet all the conditions that will be required to be met".
Both companies have agreed to hold exclusive negotiations until July 31 but Mittal said he had "no visibility" on whether the deadline could be extended.
Asked whether Bharti would be open to sweetening the deal, Mittal said the company was "working towards closure" but that that improving the deal was "not engaging our minds at the moment".
Mittal would not say "yes or no" to the possibility of sweetening the deal.
