By R. Jai Krishna
NEW DELHI--Bharti Airtel Ltd. (532454.BY), India's largest
telecommunications company, Tuesday said it agreed to buy the Warid
Group's telecom operations in Uganda.
A Bharti statement didn't say how much it will pay for Warid
Telecom Uganda LLC. The Warid Group is part of the United Arab
Emirates-based diversified Abu Dhabi Group. Bharti had in 2010
bought a majority stake in Warid's Bangladesh telecom
operations.
The latest deal comes at a time Bharti is facing regulatory and
legal hurdles in its home market and as it tries to turn around its
loss-making African operations.
Bharti, about 32%-owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.,
entered Africa in June 2010 by buying the African telecom
operations of Mobile Telecommunications Co. Its business in Africa
has been a drag on Bharti's financial performance.
Tuesday, Bharti said the acquisition will increase its number of
subscribers in Uganda to more than 7.4 million and make the company
the second-largest telecom operator in the African country with a
market share of 39%. Its local unit, Airtel Uganda Ltd., currently
has 4.6 million users.
Telecom companies in Uganda are also facing regulatory hurdles.
The country's Parliament passed rules which include provisions to
regulate phone-call tariffs and double the levy that telecom
companies need to pay the government to set up networks in rural
areas.
Bharti and other companies in Uganda are negotiating with the
government to overturn some of these rules, the Indian company had
said earlier this year.
Bharti's rivals in Uganda include the local operations of South
Africa's MTN Group Ltd. and France Telecom's Orange cellular
service.
Write to R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@dowjones.com
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