India's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel is the front runner to acquire Mumbai-based telco Loop Mobile since Loop owners Khaitan group intends to exit the telecom sector, reports The Economic Times, citing multiple sources who are familiar with negotiations. The report says the deal has been in the works for quite some time but the company is awaiting for clarity on the final guidelines of mergers and acquisitions in the telecom sector and renewal fees, which is expected in the next two months, to close the deal. Both Airtel and Loop Mobile spokesperson have declined to comment on this development to the publication. This development follows a source-based ET report from October 2012, which had suggested that Loop Mobile was being put up for sale for a reported valuation of $450 million last October and the company was in discussion with Norway's Telenor, however Loop Mobile had denied this acquisition later. Over the years, Loop Mobile also seems to have had similar discussions with Aircel and Idea Cellular. Airtel Securing 900MHz Spectrum: If the deal does go through, Airtel will be getting Loop Mobile's 8MHz spectrum in the 900 MHz band, which is considered to be more efficient than the 1800 MHz band, since it requires lesser number of towers. However, its worth noting that Loop Mobile's license is also expiring in September 2014, around the same time when both Vodafone India's and Airtel's licenses are also expiring. Loop along with Airtel has filed a case against the government in May 2013, seeking a 10 years extension of…
