Zain accepts $10.7 billion Bharti offer for Africa unit

Dubai: Mobile phone operators Zain and Bharti Airtel Ltd. say they have agreed to a $10.7 billion deal that will give Bharti access to the growing African markets it has long coveted.

The sale, if it goes through, would make Bharti an even bigger telecom player in the emerging world, where cellular phones are often the sole gadget of choice and primary means of communications for hundreds of millions of people.

Bharti is India's biggest mobile phone provider, though cutthroat competition has slowed its growth at home.

The companies said they have agreed to enter into exclusive talks until March 25 to hammer out details. The deal does not include Zain's holdings in Sudan or Morocco.

The Zain operations Bharti will acquire are located in Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.