New Delhi, May 15: Russia’s largest mobile operator Sistema, which has joined hands with Etilsalat’s holding company DAS, is being seen as a potential partner in Etilsalat’s bid for MTN.

South African telecom firm MTN is being courted by India’s Bharti Airtel and UAE’s Etilsalat.

“Sistema, has recently signed a partnership agreement with Dubai-based DAS Holding, which owns a 40 per cent stake in Etilsalat,” telecom analysts said.

Sistema may take this opportunity to propose a joint bid to control Johannesburg-listed MTN. The analysts said there was similarly a possibility of Singtel — which holds 30 per cent in Bharti —partnering Bharti for the Indian company’s bid for MTN, which has a market capitalisation of around $37 billion.

“Sistema wants to continue its aggressive expansion outside Russia this year and has found new partners in a bid to break into African and West Asian telecom markets,” said sources.

Sistema Telecom’s vice-president Vitaly Savelyev had said that the company’s aim was to be a global player.

The company also plans to expand aggressively in India and compete with leading operators such as Bharti, Vodafone Essar and Reliance Communications.

In September 2007, Sistema had bought a 10 per cent stake in Shyam Telelink, which operates in Rajasthan. Sistema later raised the stake to 51 per cent and plans to take it to 74 per cent.