MTN shares leap after FT says Barti to bid for 51 percent

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African telecoms operator MTN Group's (MTNJ.J) shares jumped 10 percent on Tuesday after the Financial Times reported India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) is to bid for a 51 percent stake.

MTN said in a statement issued on Monday that it was in talks with India's top mobile operator. It described the talks as "exploratory in nature".

The Financial Times quoted unnamed "insiders" as saying that Bharti had tabled a bid for MTN (MTNJ.J) at 165 rand per share and had secured $12 billion from banks to finance the deal.

MTN's shares rose 7.67 percent to 161.75 rand at 3:09 a.m. EDT (0709 GMT).

(Reporting by Marius Bosch)