* World's No.3 operator explores merger, tower assets sale
* Eyes float of minority stake in African unit
* Deals come amid tough competition, industry consolidation
* To commit
By Douglas Busvine
Airtel, the world's No.3 mobile operator by subscribers,also wants to float a minority stake in its African operationsand sees the London Stock Exchange as a potentially attractivevenue.
Mittal, briefing reporters at the Mobile World Congress in
"Our position is very clear: towers are steel and concrete.They are not the domain of mobile companies," said the60-year-old Mittal, whose family fortune Forbes Magazine puts at
His move to shed non-core assets follows the blockbusterentry into the Indian market by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jiothat has forced rivals to merge, creating a three big players inthe country of 1.3 billion people.
Indian operators, despite their strapped finances, will needto prepare for the launch of fifth-generation services, andMittal said he expected Bharti Airtel to continue to commit
IF YOU WANT TO SELL
Bharti Airtel controls Bharti Infratel Ltd, andalso owns 42 percent stake in Indus Towers Ltd,
Bharti Infratel said last October it was considering buyingthe rest of Indus that is owned by competitors Vodafone Indiaand Idea Cellular, which are in the processof merging.
Mittal said he had a flexible approach to exiting the towersbusiness, and had also received board approval to pursue thealternative of reducing Bharti's stake in Infratel to belowmajority control.
"We have gone down from 100 percent to 53 percent. And ourboard has decided: if you want to go and sell, then sell," saidMittal, who also chairs the GSMA industry group that hosts theannual
COMMITTED TO
Bharti Airtel, present in 20 countries, said in mid-Februarythat it was exploring an initial public offering for BhartiAirtel International (
A listing, if it does happen, would only be of a minoritystake, said Mittal: "It will remain a Bharti subsidiary. Thatmeans we are staying (in
Vice-Chairman Akhil Gupta said
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has said BAIN could be valuedat an enterprise value of
"I think we should be much more, because we should be at