Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom company, had negotiations in 2008 and 2009 to acquire a stake in MTN, a large telecommunications provider in Africa and the Middle East. Bharti offered $11.4 billion in cash and a 36% stake in Bharti Airtel in exchange for a 49% stake in MTN. However, the deal faced hurdles from the South African government, which wanted to maintain MTN's status as a national champion, as well as issues with India not allowing dual listings. Ultimately, the deal fell through due to these political and regulatory challenges.

1. Presented By Dhaval Ambani Business Communication

4. CALL LOG 2008 May 6: Bharti Airtel begin talks with MTN to buy stake in the South African company May 25: Bharti and MTN call off talks May 27: Reliance Communications (RCom) and MTN sign a 45-day exclusivity agreement to negotiate a deal Jul 19: RCom and MTN call off talks 2009 May 25: Bharti-MTN announce talks for a $23-billion share-swap-and-cash deal. Deadline set for July 31 Aug 3: Bharti-MTN extend deadline from July 31 to August 31 Aug 20: Bharti-MTN extend deadline again to September 30 Sep 14: South African government says MTN’s ‘South African character’ must be maintained Sep 15: Indian government says open to dual listing in India Sep 24: Officials from the South African government meet Sebi, RBI and finance ministry mandarins