Bharti ties up USD 8.3 bn deal with Kuwait's Zain Telecom

New Delhi, March 21 : India's leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel Sunday announced it has tied up the whole financing requirement of USD 8.3 billion (Rs.37,350 crore) debt for its planned acquisition of Kuwait-based Zain Telecom's African unit.

"The financing was over-subscribed with major international banks committing to underwrite the total amount," the company said in a statement.

Bharti would pay USD 9 billion (Rs.40,500 crore) to acquire Zain's assets spread across 15 African countries. It will adopt USD 1.7 billion (Rs.7,650 crore) of Zain's debt.

Bharti Airtel and Zain were in exclusive talks for quite a long time, in Bharti's third venture attempt to acquire an African business after having failed in its bid twice for South Africa's telecom giant, MTN.

Last year, Bharti failed to strike a merger with MTN. The deal was later called off due to regulatory issues in both countries.