Bankers involved in Bharti-MTN deal lost $48m

This is a million-dollar chance lost for investment bankers who could have earned up to $48 m in fees, if the proposed deal between Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN had materialized. Investment banks usually charge 0.5-2 % of the entire contract amount as advisory fees for the M&A transaction. While the exact amount those investment bankers could have earned from Bharti-MTN deal could not be ascertained, it could have been up to $ 48 m, based on the upper limit of potential fee income from the proposed $ 24 b deal. Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank were advising MTN, while Standard Chartered and Barclays advised Bharti Airtel.