Bharti all set to acquire Zain Africa BV

Bharti Airtel Limited, India's largest telecom service provider, is all set to acquire the African assets of Gulf telecom major Zain. Bharti on Monday said it has entered into exclusive talks with Zain to acquire all of the latter's African assets, potentially worth around $10.7 billion.

The transaction does not include Zain's operations in Morocco and Sudan and remains subject to due diligence, customary regulatory approvals and signing of final transaction documentation, Bharti said.

In a separate announcement, Zain also confirmed that its board has agreed to enter into exclusive talks with Bharti over the sale of its African assets.

The exclusivity period will end on 25 March, Bharti Airtel said in a statement. "There can be no assurance that a transaction will be consummated," Bharti added.

Bharti is expected to discuss ways of financing the deal and the company said it would make further announcements in due course.

Zain has over 70 million customers spread across Africa and the Middle East - with about 49 million in Africa alone - and Bharti is reported to have sought to acquire most of Zain's African assets.