The Indian Tiger Prowls in Africa: Bharti Airtels Acquisition of Zain Africa Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies

June 8, 2010, a leading integrated Indian telecom services, Bharti Airtel Ltd ("Airtel"), completed the acquisition of mobile operations Kuwaiti company Zain in 15 African countries. 10.7 billion, it was the most expensive and ambitious acquisition Airtel yet and the largest cross-border transactions from one emerging market to another.

Airtel has expressed hope that with this transaction, the company will be transformed into a truly global telecom company, fulfilling the vision of building a world-class multinational. Airtel has been a pioneer in the telecom sector in India, and was the company's flagship conglomerate Bharti industries. Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the group Bharti in 1976, and it has evolved from a small manufacturer of bicycle parts in one of the largest business groups in India, with operations in telecommunications, financial services, retail, and food industry. Airtel launched its telecom business services in 1995 by launching mobile services in Delhi, India. In a short span of about 15 years, the company has become the largest mobile India service provider and one of the five largest wireless operator in the world with revenues of U.S. $ 8.8 billion and net income of approximately U.S. $ 2 billion as of March 31, 2010 year. The acquisition of Zain would add 40 million subscribers, bringing the total user base to about 185 million. What strategy should Bharti pursue to ensure its success in Africa? "Hide
by Indranil Bose, Nikhil Celly, Havovi Joshi Source: University of Hong Kong, 30 pages. Publication Date: June 8, 2011. Prod. #: HKU952-PDF-ENG