Middle East and North Africa

India's Bharti Airtel has received bids from more than a dozen overseas banks willing to fund its planned merger with South Africa's MTN, reports the Economic Times today.

Merger talks between India's Bharti and South Africa's MTN could be extended for a second time amid reports that MTN's shareholders are becoming increasingly frustrated with the negotiations.

India's Reliance Communications (RCom) is the latest name to be linked to an acquisition of Zain's African mobile networks.

India's Bharti and South Africa's MTN have again extended their merger talks by another month, this time declaring a deadline of September 30 as a successful outcome appears likely.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that Bharti Airtel’s chairman Sunil Mittal and MTN chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko met today with India's federal finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as the two companies strive to come closer to a deal to combine.

India's Bharti Airtel has reportedly been successful in securing around US$5 billion in bank loans to fund its planned merger with South Africa's MTN, raising expectations that the deal could be completed before the latest 30 September deadline.

South Africa's MTN this morning reported a strong set of financial results for the first half of the year but remained tight-lipped on its ongoing merger talks with India's Bharti.