Bharti may sell shares to fund Zain purchase

Indian operator Bharti Airtel may sell some shares to Singapore Telecommunications in order to fund the purchase of Zain’s Africa assets.

Someone familiar with the matter, cited in the Economic Times publication, confirmed Bharti’s intentions about funding. However, both parties – Bharti and SingTel – denied reports, saying it’s premature to talk about funding.

On Sunday last week, the board of Kuwait-based Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, branded Zain, finally accepted Bharti’s proposal to buy its Africa operations. The deal excludes Morocco and Sudan.

Bharti offered $10.7 billion for the African assets of Kuwaiti telecom group Zain, to enter the African telecoms market. The Indian operator had failed twice in its merging plans with South Africa’s MTN, a deal also supported by SingTel at the time.