SingTel may partner Bharti in MTN deal-Citi

NEW DELHI, May 6 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India's leading mobile operator, could be partnered by Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) if it goes ahead with a bid for South African telecoms operator MTN Group (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research), Citigroup analysts said on Tuesday.

SingTel owns 30.5 percent of Bharti Airtel.

Bharti and MTN (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday they were in "exploratory talks" which may or may not lead to a deal. The Financial Times reported Bharti had submitted a bid for 51 percent of MTN that valued the firm at $37 billion.

"Don't forget SingTel," Citigroup analysts said in a report.

"Given the size of any potential acquisition, we see a reasonable probability that SingTel gets directly involved with Bharti as a co-buyer as well."

Bharti has a market value of $42 billion. The South African firm had 68.2 million subscribers as of march, compared with Bharti's 62 million. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy)