Bharti shares fall 3 pct on MTN deal concerns

Shares in India's Bharti Airtel fell more than 3 per cent by Tuesday afternoon on concerns the country's top mobile operator may have to cough up more to buy a proposed stake in South Africa's MTN.

Shares in India's Bharti Airtel fell more than 3 per cent by Tuesday afternoon on concerns the country's top mobile operator may have to cough up more to buy a proposed stake in South Africa's MTN.

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Bharti and MTN are working on a complex cash-and-stock deal to take stakes in each other and have held exclusive talks for more than two months. The talks were to end on July 31 but have been extended to Aug. 31, with some analysts saying Bharti may have to sweeten its terms.

At 0650 GMT, Bharti shares were down 2.7 percent at 400 rupees, having fallen as much as 3.2 per cent, in a Mumbai market down 0.1 per cent.