Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Bharti Airtel, the country’s leading telecom operator by users, is reportedly in talks with Norway-based Telenor for buying its India business for $350 million. Bharti Airtel is likely to take over half of Telenor India’s liabilities, while the latter is expected to bear remaining half of its India liabilities. The deal is likely to be closed by January-end.

Telenor has been reportedly looking to exit India, having been pushed into a corner thanks to its limited data spectrum holdings and its presence in only a few pockets. Telenor India owes close to Rs 1,900 crore to the government in deferred spectrum payments and about Rs 1,800 crore to financial institutions as debt.

Bharti Airtel is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers.