Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Millicom), through their respective subsidiaries, today announced the closure of the deal to combine their operations in Ghana. Under the joint agreement, Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership (50:50) and governance rights in the combined entity, which will have revenues of approx. USD 300 million.

Both Airtel and Millicom will have Board representations and Management positions in the merged entity. The Ghana National Communications Authority (NCA) granted approval for the merger proposal early this month.

The merged entity will become Ghana's second largest mobile operator with close to 10 million subscribers. The combined networks of the two companies will cover more than 80% of Ghana's population, in particular in villages and far flung areas, and serve customers with affordable worldclass voice/ data services, affordable global roaming and mobile banking services. It will also have one of the largest sales and distribution network to enhance customer convenience.

Shares of the company gained Rs 4.2, or 0.97%, to trade at Rs 435.80. The total volume of shares traded was 141,777 at the BSE (10.07 a.m., Monday).