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Dec 17, 2009
Indian telecom giant Bharti
Airtel is seeking to buy
Bangladesh's fourth largest
mobile phone operator Warid
from its Abu Dhabi-based
owners, regulators said yesterday.
The Dhabi Group, which fully
owns Warid Telecom, has sought
approval from the Bangladesh
Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission for the sale of a
70 per cent stake in the
company, Commission chairman
Zia Ahmed told the news agency.
The purchase of the stake
would make Bharti the latest
foreign company to make
inroads into the fast-growing
Bangladesh mobile market.
"The Dhabi Group informed us
on Sunday that it would sell
70 per cent of Warid Telecom
shares to Bharti Airtel Ltd.
We have sought more papers and
the copy of the memorandum of
understanding between the two
companies," Ahmed said.
Bharti said later it was
looking at potential purchases
in the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) region, including
Bangladesh, but declined
comment on whether it wanted
to purchase Warid.
"We have always said we are
interested in the SAARC
region," Bharti Enterprises
Deputy Group chief executive
Akhil Gupta told reporters in
New Delhi. "We have been
interested in Bangladesh," he
added.
The SAARC region is made up of
Bangladesh, Bhutan, the
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan,
India, Sri Lanka and
Afghanistan. But Gupta would
not comment on the regulator's
statement that Bharti was
seeking approval to buy 70 per
cent of Warid. "I can't talk
about that unless something
official happens," Gupta said.
The reported move by Bharti
comes after its plan to ally
with South Africa's MTN to
create an emerging market
telecom giant collapsed in
September when Pretoria said
it feared MTN might lose its
"national character" in the
merger.
Analysts say Bharti, which has
over 100 million subscribers
in India, will need to expand
abroad to increase revenues
with earnings growth slowing
in its home market which has
become crowded by new players.
Source: AFP, DHAKA
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