Bharti Airtel moves on African tunes

Bharti Airtel has hit a 2.6 year high today at Rs.391.40 and though it has come off this high, it remains strongly in the green, up over 3.5%.

The stock has surged enthused by the news that its wholly subsidiary in Kenya, which is Airtel Networks Kenya, has signed a definitive agreement with Essar Telecommunications Kenya L, which operates under the brand name yuMobile to acquire its over 2.7 million subscribers. This transaction is subject to approval from Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and is likely to be concluded by fourth quarter of 2014.

Currently, Airtel Kenya is the number two operator in Kenya and post this acquisition, its subscriber will jump up straight from current 5 million to 25 million.