Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communica-tions (RCom), two Indian mobile-phone operators, will bid to buy

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Zain’s African operations, BusinessDay newspaper reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

They join French company Vivendi SA, the early frontrunner for the Kuwaiti-based company’s African businesses worth about $12 billion, according to the Lagos-based newspaper. Zain on June 17 denied it has plans to sell its Africa unit.

Bharti and Reliance earlier this year made a bid for MTN Group, Africa’s biggest mobile operator, the newspaper said.

Mansi Taneja adds: When contacted, a Bharti Airtel spokesperson said, "It's clearly mentioned in our press statement dated May 25 that we are in exclusive discussions with MTN till July 31. So, this is out of question."

A Reliance Communications spokesperson said, "We do not comment on market speculations."