Bharti Raises USD8.3Billion For Zain Stake

India's Bharti Airtel has announced that it has raised funding totaling USD8.3 billion for its proposed acquisition of the African assets of Kuwaiti telecoms group Zain, according to Bloomberg Business Week.
Bharti will receive USD7.5 billion via loans from a group of banks led by Standard Chartered and Barclays, and the development comes hot on the heels of reports that Bharti's board had approved the planned purchase earlier this week. Exclusive negotiations between Zain and Bharti are scheduled to conclude by 25 March.