Bharti and MTN said on Monday they were in talks which may or may not lead to a deal, though they gave no details of the possible offer.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Shares in South African telecoms operator MTN Group jumped 10 percent on Tuesday after India's Bharti Airtel said it was considering a potential multi-billion dollar takeover.
Bharti and MTN said on Monday they were in talks which may or may not lead to a deal, though they gave no details of the possible offer.
The Financial Times, quoting unnamed insiders, reported Bharti had put in a bid for 51 percent of MTN that valued the target at around $37 billion.
Singapore Telecommunications <STEL.SI>, which owns over 30 percent of Bharti, confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that Bharti was in talks with the South African firm.
!ADVERTISEMENT!MTN's shares were up 8 percent at 162 rand by 4:21 a.m. EDT (0821 GMT), after trading as high as 165 rand.
Shares in Bharti Airtel <BRTI.BO> were down 3.7 percent at 860.80 rupees amid concern about how India's top mobile operator may fund the deal.
MTN has a market value of about $36 billion and at the end of March had 68.2 million subscribers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
(Reporting by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by David Holmes)
