MTN Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Phuthuma Nhleko said Africa’s largest mobile-phone company may make an acquisition before he leaves at the end of March next year.

“Who knows, something could happen before the end of the year,” Nhleko said in a telephone interview from Johannesburg today. “This industry is becoming more and more fluid in terms of consolidation.”

The company today said Nhleko will leave in March next year after eight years in the post. Nhleko’s exit comes after the company, which wants to expand outside Africa, failed to close three transactions with Indian competitors in the last two years. Nhleko said he chose not to renew his contract and was not resigning.

The company and Nhleko have a mutual agreement to “explore other options for an ongoing association” between them, MTN’s Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement today.

MTN and India’s Bharti Airtel Ltd. failed for the second time last year to conclude a $23 billion merger that would have created the world’s third-largest mobile-phone company in terms of subscribers. Talks about a tie-up with Indian mobile operator Reliance Communications Ltd. ended without an agreement in 2008.

Nhleko declined to comment on who his successor may be. “The board will consider internal as well as external candidates,” he said. “I’m sure they will follow due process and make sure they make decisions that are in the interests of the company.”

Nhleko said he hasn’t decided yet what he will do after MTN, although “I suspect, I’ll definitely stay involved in commerce in one form or another.”

source:Bloomberg