TAKE A LOOK-Bharti, MTN revive telecom merger talks

May 27 (Reuters) - India's Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) and South Africa's
MTN Group (MTNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) have restarted merger talks to create a major emerging
markets telecoms group, a year after previous talks broke down over who would
control a merged entity.

Bharti said the potential value of what is a complex deal in which both
firms pay cash and stock for stakes in each other was more than $23 billion.

But several major MTN shareholders have said they would reject a tie-up
based on terms unveiled this week and others are unsure about the deal.

In May last year, tie-up talks between Bharti and MTN broke down over the
structure and ownership of a merged entity. MTN then had talks with Bharti rival
Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), but these also failed.

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Click on the codes in brackets to see the stories:

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LATEST STORIES:
>Big MTN s'holders say Bharti must sweeten deal [ID:nLR161291]
>MTN may buy into Bharti parent to meet rules-sources [ID:nBOM497177]
>S. African union unlikely to block MTN-Bharti deal [ID:nLR973440]
>Bharti shares seesaw, lag broader market [ID:nBOM176636]
>MTN shares fall on shareholder caution [ID:nLR947792]
>Bharti, S.Africa's MTN eye emerging markets merger [ID:nLP34850]
>Bharti: MTN deal may change SingTel stake [ID:nDEL488502]
>Bharti may raise $3-$4 bln debt for MTN-sources [ID:nBMA002983]
>Bharti says no plans for rights issue for deal [ID:nBMA002982]
>MTN deal earnings dilutive in year-one: Bharti [ID:nBMA002977]

FACTBOXES, NEWSMAKERS:
>NEWSMAKER-MTN's Nhleko, a shrewd dealmaker [ID:nLP20864]
>FACTBOX-India's Bharti in talks with MTN [ID:nBOM363149]
>FACTBOX-Top 10 M&A deals so far in 2009 [ID:nHKG182057]
>FACTBOX-Regulatory obstacles to any bid for MTN [ID:nLR297842]

TIMELINE
Talks between Bharti and MTN [ID:nBOM298571]

COLUMN
>Round Two in Africa's mobile consolidation [ID:nLR975449]

PREVIOUS TALKS:
>India's Bharti says not talking to MTN again [ID:nDEL33479]
>TAKE-A-LOOK-Bharti ends talks with S.Africa's MTN [ID:nBOM48622]
>TAKE-A-LOOK-Reliance Comm in talks with MTN [ID:nBOM343381]

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