Bharti appoints lieutenant to head African venture

NEW DELHI: The boss of Indian telecom group Bharti Airtel has appointed his top lieutenant to oversee his new African business, bought in a US$10.7-billion deal from Kuwait's Zain, a company official said on Wednesday (31 March 2010).

Sunil Bharti Mittal appointed Manoj Kohli, who is head of Bharti's international operations and who helped build Bharti into India's leading mobile operator by subscribers, to head the African operations.

"Mr Kohli has been appointed but it is not clear yet where he will be located," said a senior company official, who asked to remain unnamed.

Bharti's shares jumped as much as 3% in opening trade before retreating on profit taking to trade up 1.33% or 4.15 rupees at 315.10 rupees.

Bharti announced it had sealed an agreement to buy most of Zain's African assets, vaulting it into the ranks of the world's top five cellular players by subscribers with 179 million clients.

The takeover, dubbed Bharti's "African safari" by Indian media, will see Bharti pay Zain US$9 billion in cash.

Bharti will also assume Zain's US$1.7-billion debt, putting the deal value at $10.7 billion.

Source: AFP