South African-based mobile operator MTN has denied reports this week that it is in talks with India’s largest mobile operator, Bharti, over a possible acquisition. The Financial Times (FT) reported this week that both Bharti and Singapore’s Singtel, which owns 30.5% of the Indian company, had appointed advisors to investigate a possible acquisition of MTN, which would be Bharti’s largest ever overseas deal if it went ahead. The report cited sources close to the situation that claim MTN has been earmarked as an acquisition target by Bharti as part of a new non-organic growth strategy. According to the FT, MTN has a market value of around US$33 billion.

However, MTN said in a statement today that it had “not received any specific proposal” from Bharti and it is understood that no negotiations are underway. MTN announced earlier this week that its total subscriber base, which covers 21 markets across Africa and the Middle East, had grown 11% quarter-on-quarter to 68.2 million. Meanwhile, Bharti reported today that net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter has jumped 37% from a year earlier to INR18.53 billion (US$462 million). The operator signed up 6.9 million new customers during the quarter, bringing its total to 64.3 million, of which 61.98 million were mobile subscribers.