India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel is all set to try its luck third time for entry into Africa in a big way. The Kuwait-based Zain board today accepted Bharti Airtel’s proposal to buy its Africa operations excluding Morocco and Sudan in a $10.7 billion

all-cash deal. Zain is likely to make an announcement late tonight or on Monday.

The board will take the proposal to its shareholders on Monday, following which a due-diligence process will begin, said a source familiar with the deal. The largest shareholder is the Kuwait Investment Authority that owns 24.6% equity shares. Kharafi family is the other large shareholder of Zain.

The Zain brand is wholly owned by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSC, which is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Bharti Airtel’s spokesperson refused to comment. Zain spokesperson also did not comment.

If the deal is successful, Bharti will become an operator in 15 countries in Africa - Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Earlier, Bharti entered into negotiations with South Africa based MTN for merger of their operations in a two-way $ 23 billion deal. However, on September 30, the talks were called off. Bharti’s first attempt to acquire MTN failed in May, 2008.

In September, Vavasi, an Indian telecom company and Al Bukhary, a Malaysian group with diversified interests, entered into an agreement with Kharafi family to buy controlling stake in Zain. The proposed deal envisaged the sale of 46% shares (including Kharafi Family’s shares) with management control to Vavasi-Al Bukhary. However, the deal couldn’t take place as the two PSUs BSNL and MTNL didn’t join the consortium.

Zain operates services in 23 countries and had over 70 million subscribers as of September, 2009. It has a market cap of $16.2 billion.

For the first nine months of 2009, Zain recorded revenues of $6.169 billion, an increase of 24% compared to the first nine months of 2008.

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, operates telecom services in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The company had over 125.3 million customers as of end December 2009.

Zain operates services in 23 countries and had over 70 million subscribers as of September, 2009. It has a market cap of $16.2 billion.

For the first nine months of 2009, Zain recorded revenues of $6.169 billion, an increase of 24% compared to the first nine months of 2008.

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, operates telecom services in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The company had over 125.3 million customers as of end December 2009.