* Deal different from Telkom-Vodafone deal
* Labour federation anxious about foreign ownership
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's powerful trade union federation COSATU said it was unlikely to try to block a possible multi-billion dollar merger involving MTN (MTNJ.J) and India's Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO).
COSATU spokesman Patrick Craven said on Wednesday the MTN deal was fundamentally different from the recent deal involving state telecoms operator Telkom which handed control of South African mobile provider Vodacom to Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L).
The labour grouping, which says it has 1.8 million paid-up members, came close to scuppering that deal.
"Telkom has always been 50 percent owned by the public and the move was part of our policy agenda against privatisation. MTN has always been a private company," said Craven.
"We remain concerned that another foreign company may take control of another key South African telecoms company (but) we haven't taken a decision on blocking the deal," Craven said.
Bharti and MTN Group have revived merger talks to create a $61 billion telecoms giant spanning Africa, Asia and the Middle East a year after their previous attempt foundered over who would control the combined entity. [ID:nLP34850]
In the Vodacom deal, the trade union body said it feared job losses.
The deal enriched businessmen close to the former government of Thabo Mbeki, angering leftists, and intensified investor fears of resurgent union clout under new president Jacob Zuma. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by David Cowell)
News courtesy Reuters
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