$50 billion Bharti Airtel/MTN deal bites the dust

A deal worth an estimated $50 billion between India's Bharti Airtel and the South African MTN Group hit the rocks this weekend after takeover target MTN tuned the tables and decided it wanted to takeover BA. BA quickly called off negotiations, saying BA shareholders would have been hurt by the deal that "would not capture the synergies of a combined entity."

Bharti officials had planned to use the acquisition--its first major move outside India--to springboard the company from an Indian company into a multinational. The two providers are of similar size.

MTN officials declined comment.

For more:
See the Gadsden Times article [1]

Related articles:
- MTN left with single bidder, Voda goes own direction. MTN report [2]
- Rumor Mill: Who's bidding for South Africa's MTN? Bharti story [3]