MTN Walks Away From Talks to Buy South Africa’s Telkom
- Telkom said MTN wanted assurances around exclusivity
- Deal would have created South Africa’s biggest mobile company
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MTN Group Ltd. has walked away from talks to buy Telkom SA SOC Ltd., a deal that would have created South Africa’s largest mobile-phone operator. Telkom shares sank the most since 2009, wiping out about a fifth of their market value.
MTN ended early stage discussions because Telkom couldn’t assure the bigger telecom company that talks were exclusive, Telkom said in statement on Wednesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. MTN hadn’t yet made a binding offer and the talks hadn’t progressed to due diligence, it said.