Vodafone spokesman says not persuing MTN bid

LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone group by revenue, has no intention of pursuing a bid for the South African company MTN, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Reports in Britain's Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times newspapers said Vodafone was considering making a bid for part or all of MTN which could cost around 20 billion pounds ($39.02 billion).

"We have no intention of pursuing a bid for MTN," a spokesman said.

The two papers said Vodafone's interest had been triggered by India's top mobile operator Bharti Airtel which said last week it was in exploratory talks with MTN that may or may not lead to a deal.