Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile operator, has received the green light from Bangladesh’s ministry of telecommunications for its acquisition of the remaining 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh.
Telecoms minister Shahara Khatun confirmed to the…
Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile operator, has received the green light from Bangladesh’s ministry of telecommunications for its acquisition of the remaining 30% stake in Airtel Bangladesh.
Telecoms minister Shahara Khatun confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that the government has approved the US$80m deal.
She however added it is “unfortunate” that conglomerate Abu Dhabi Group, current co-owner of Airtel Bangladesh, has decided to exit the country.
The transaction still needs to be examined by the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), National Board of Revenue (NBR), Board of Investment (BoI) and Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, according to the newspaper.
On 2 May, Airtel announced it would acquire the 30% stake it does not own in Airtel Bangladesh from Warid Telecom, owned by the Abu Dhabi Group. Bharti first acquired a 70% stake from Warid in 2010, in a transaction estimated at US$300m.
The buyout announcement came just days after a similar deal between the two companies in Uganda. In late April, Bharti Airtel agreed to buy Warid Uganda outright from Warid Telecom.
Airtel Bangladesh lags behind the three top operators in the country. In early April, the government approved US$200m in foreign loans to the company in order to boost the country’s telecoms market.
Bharti Airtel and the ministry of telecoms were not immediately available for comment.
