India’s leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel is set to acquire Loop Mobile.  The deal can be announced by the end of this month. Dubai-based Khaitan family owns 99 per cent equity in the company.

If it goes thorugh, it will be the first deal after the government announced new merger & acquisition (M&A) policy.

Sources said that Bharti would pay about Rs 700-crore for the company. Loop has more than three million subscribers and about 400 telecom towers at startegic locations.

Apart from this, Airtel will also get optic fibre connecting towers and electronic equipment.

Kotak Mahindra Investment Bank is the sole advisor for the transaction, running the sale process.

Loop's subscribers will get uninterrupted services despite the company's licence expiring in September.

Loop offers GSM services in Mumbai. It has 3.2 million subscribers and a blended average revenue per user (arpu) of over Rs 225. This is much higher than the industry average of about Rs 100 and Bharti Airtel's arpu of Rs 195.