Bharti Airtel, India's largest cellular operator, is planning to raise its offer to about $22.63 per share to acquire control of South African mobile player MTN, according to a media report.
Quoting a person familiar with the 'deal,' the Wall Street Journal said on Monday that Bharti is considering raising the offer to about 175 South African rand (or $22.63) per share for control of MTN.
"There is no official bid yet and MTN management insists that it be a minimum 200 South African rand per share," the WSJ reported, quoting the person, in an article published in its online edition.
When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson declined to comment.
Last week, both Bharti and MTN announced that they are in 'exploratory talks' which may or may not lead to a deal. The person said the official bid could still be the original 160 rand to 165 rand, 'depending on the terms of the agreement, how big of a stake MTN is willing to sell and other factors,' the WSJ reported.
Media reports said that Bharti -- whose market capitalisation as on May 9 stood at Rs 159,841.77 crore (Rs 1,598.417 billion) could make an official bid for MTN this week for a 51 per cent stake.
Earlier, media reports said that Bharti is looking at acquiring 51 per cent stake in MTN for about $19 billion.
If the deal takes place, it will create world's sixth largest mobile company with 130 million subscribers in more than 20 countries.
In afternoon trade, Bharti was trading at Rs 825.90, down 1.99 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
