Bharti Airtel, Warid move closer to deal

Bharti Airtel's bid to buy a 70 percent stake in Warid is taking shape as the high officials of Abu Dhabi Group, the owning company of the local mobile operator, and the Indian telecom giant are in Dhaka to brainstorm a consensus.
Earlier Bharti Airtel and Abu Dhabi Group had sought the telecom regulator's nod for signing a deal. In a recent letter to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Airtel showed interest to buy the stake in Warid Telecom.
An official at Warid Telecom said: "A memorandum of understanding (MoU) could be signed between the companies during the visit."
The MoU is the primary step before signing the final deal between the companies to share confidential business strategies.
BTRC has asked for some documents from the companies before signing the deal. The documents include Airtel's investment plan in Bangladesh, and board of director's approval from both the companies regarding the deal.
The BTRC also directed the companies to inform it how the Warid liabilities (including banks loans) would be paid after buying the stake.
"The BTRC has asked the companies to submit these documents before signing the deal," said BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed while talking to The Daily Star last week.
Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal called on Telecom Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju at his office yesterday.
Sunil Kanti Bosh, secretary of telecommunication ministry, said Airtel is going to invest in Bangladesh.
The company wants to work for developing Bangladesh's voice market, he said, adding that it also looks for providing telecom services between India and Bangladesh at affordable cost.
Bharti Airtel has placed a $300 million initial investment plan to BTRC, which will be implemented after signing the deal.
The issues over the sale of Warid stake were discussed much in the last few months in the industry, as the fourth largest operator is not performing in line with its expectations. Talks over the sale hot up as another Indian telecom operator, Essar Group, acquired the majority share in Warid's operations in Africa.
Essar Group acquired the operations in Uganda and Congo at $318 million.
Warid made its Bangladesh debut as the sixth mobile operator in May 2007 and has roped in 2.79 million subscribers until October. Partnership is crucial to Warid as its investment cost is higher than other operators' because of 'discrimination' in frequency allocations, said the officials of the company.
Several companies, such as SingTel, Vodafone and Etisalat, had also approached Warid to form a partnership in Bangladesh.