DealZone

Bharti Airtel will not sweeten its offer for MTN now that exclusive talks between the two have been extended. Instead, the talks are about administrative issues, permissions and a scheme of arrangements, Bharti Chairman Sunil Mittal told the Economic Times. And the fate of Opel hangs in the balance, with General Motors poised to pick a buyer. Its board will address the topic later on Friday, sources told us.

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Exactly one year ago, squabbles over control forced Bharti Airtel and MTN to ditch their hope of forming a global telecoms group, but both emerging markets-focused companies are back on the negotiating table to thrash out a $61 billion merger.

What’s changed?

For a start, both firms are now publicly talking about a detailed structure for the combined entity, something that was missing last time.

As part of an initial deal worth more than $23 billion unveiled on Monday, Bharti will pay in cash and shares for 49 percent of MTN, while MTN pays cash and stock for an effective 36 percent stake in the Indian firm. Previous merger talks collapsed when the South African firm proposed a new structure that would have seen Bharti become an MTN unit.