Orange, a French telecom group has announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Bharti Airtel to explore the possible acquisition of Airtel’s subsidiaries in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville and Sierra Leone in Africa. However, there is no certainty of any binding agreement as a result of these discussions, said the company.
Airtel acquired Zain Telecom’s operations in 15 African countries for $10.7 billion back in 2010. It raised over $1.3 billion by divesting its tower assets in five African countries, which was used to reduce debt.
Airtel currently operates in 17 African countries that includes, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo B, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda. It offers 3G services in 16 countries and Airtel Money across all 17 countries in Africa.