New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS): Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular, through their respective subsidiaries, on Monday announced the closure of a deal to combine their operations in Ghana.

Under the joint agreement, Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership (50:50) and governance rights in the combined entity, which will have revenues of around $300 million, said a statement here.

Roshi Motman, the current CEO of Tigo Ghana, will be the new CEO of the joint entity.

Both Airtel and Millicom will have Board representations and management positions in the merged entity. The Ghana National Communications Authority (NCA) granted approval for the merger proposal earlier this month.

The merged entity will become Ghana's second largest mobile operator with close to 10 million subscribers, the statement said.

"The combined networks of the two companies will cover more than 80 per cent of Ghana's population, in particular in villages and far flung areas, and serve customers with affordable world-class voice/data services, affordable global roaming and mobile banking services. It will also have one of the largest sales and distribution network to enhance customer convenience," the statement added.