Reliance-MTN deal hits fresh hiccup - Roses roses, thorns thorns make for briars grim

By Examiner Staff @ Monday, July 07, 2008 12:10 PM

Section - Telecoms/Mobile

The dream deal between Reliance Communications and South African MTN has hit a snag, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal (here - sub required).

The newspaper said that a self-imposed deadline on merger talks finishes today, but talks will continue, despite the comedy of errors.

One of the big problems is that continuing economic conditions and the whims of the stock market mean that the share price of both firms have fallen since talks began.

Then there's the feud between the Ambani brothers - with Mukesh Ambani claiming he's got first dibs on the firm, while his bro Anil owns two thirds of MTN already.

The continuing saga, er, continues. X