No discrimination against MTN, says PM

Pittsburgh, Sep 26 (PTI) Prime Minister of India Manmohan
Singh Saturday assured South Africa that there will be no
"discrimination" against the proposed USD 23-billion merger
deal between Bharti and MTN, facing the hurdle of dual
listing.

"As far as MTN issue is concerned, I mentioned it to
(South African President) Jacob Zuma. I sincerely hope that
this deal would go through and there will be no discrimination
against it," he told reporters in reply to a question at a
press conference here.

Bharti and MTN are currently engaged in exclusive talks
till September 30, 2009, for a possible merger deal involving
cash and share-swap to create the world's third largest
telecom operator with over 200 million subscribers.

Two recent developments--changes in the takeover norms,
announced by SEBI, and South Africa's demand to allow dual
listing of MTN in order to retain its identity, had raised
concerns over the fate of the deal.

Supporting the Bharti group's efforts to acquire stake in
MTN and hoping that the deal would go through, Singh said
officials of the two countries would discuss the issue.

Commenting on the deal, particularly the dual listing
clause, Finance Minister of India Pranab Mukherjee had
recently said "We welcome the deal, but it should be in
context of existing laws of the land. These have to be kept in
mind." MORE PTI