S.Africa's MTN extends exclusive talks with Reliance

JOHANNESBURG, July 9 (Reuters) - South African mobile phone operator MTN Group (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had agreed to extend its exclusive talks with India's Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) until July 21, 2008.

MTN and Reliance Communications started talks on May 26 that could create a $66 billion emerging markets telecoms group with operations in about two dozen countries and around 120 million subscribers.

When the talks began, MTN had a market capitalisation of $38 billion and Reliance Communications was worth $28 billion, but a sharp slide in markets has eroded valuations. (Reporting by Gugulakhe Lourie)