Original Story Published by: Andrew Christian for Wee Tracker
Photo Source: ©African Markets
Sources familiar with both parties have revealed that India’s telecoms giant Bharti Airtel is making a move to purchase Telkom Kenya, the East African nation’s smallest mobile operator.
The move, which follows the recent Tanzania 51 percent stake give-out, is expected to create a stronger challenger to market leader Safaricom.
It is believed that London-based Helios Investment, a 60 percent stakeholder in Telkom Kenya, is looking to cash out of the investment which has spanned nearly four years.
Bharti Airtel and the East African telecoms company held merger talks last year but abandoned the plan due to unknown reasons.
Bharti Airtel appears to be taking the wheel and leading talks to acquire Telkom Kenya after Helios fully cashes out. The deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2019, will be announced by the Communications Authority of Kenya if the two operators attempt the deal.
But Mugo Kibati, Telkom’s CEO, has taken to the press to confirm that negotiations talks have been revived. But he declined to update on the discussions, with respect to Kenya’s Competition Act. Competition Authority of Kenya has to give regulatory approvals to the firm before the deal can be successful. According to the Act, parties are allowed to deliberate possible mergers and acquisitions but are mandated to notify the Authority if the deal meets the requirements provided for in the Merger Threshold Guidelines before the decision is implemented.
To read the full article, visit African Markets.
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