After last year's attempts fizzled out due to variance over the control aspect, the merger talks between Bharti Airtel, India, and MTN Group, South Africa, have been revived. The two companies are looking to create a $61 billion telecoms bigwig, spread over Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

While the New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel is the biggest telecom operator in India, the Johannesburg-based MTN Group has its business spanning across 21 African and the Middle East markets.

Saying that growth prospects are still bright in the emerging markets, analyst Nishna Biyani - of Mumbai's Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. - added that Bharti's merger with MTN will give the company an access to growth in the "last frontiers of the telecoms industry," namely, Africa and Middle East.

The resumption of talks was marked by the under-consideration initial agreement worth more than $23 billion - the first step towards the prospective merger - under which Bharti would make a cash-cum-shares payment for 49 percent stake in MTN; following MTN's cash-cum-stock payment for an effective 36 percent stake in Bharti.

About the revived talks with MTN, Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal said: "We are delighted at the prospect of developing a partnership with MTN to create an emerging market telecom powerhouse. Both companies would stand to gain significant benefits," which would largely include reduced costs from expansive range of operation.

(via TopNews Europe. Contributed by Ashok Shukla)