By Kayode Tokede
Airtel Africa Plc and Telkom Kenya have terminated previous merger plans due to discourse variances.
Airtel Networks Kenya Limited (Airtel Kenya) an Airtel Africa Plc subsidiary, and Telkom Kenya Limited (Telkom) amongst other parties, had entered into an agreement dated 8th February, 2019 to combine their businesses in Kenya, so as to create an integrated telecommunications platform with mobile, enterprise, and wholesale divisions (the Transaction).
The completion of the transaction was subject to the satisfaction of various conditions precedent, including regulatory approvals.
Despite Airtel Africa plc and Telkom respective endeavours to reach a successful closure, the
Transaction has gone through a very lengthy process which has led the parties to reconsider their stance. Accordingly, Airtel Africa plc and Telkom have decided to no longer pursue completion of the Transaction.
Airtel Africa CEO and MD, Raghunath Mandava in a statement on Wednesday said, “Kenya is a large and growing market and we remain committed to build a growing profitable business.
“We currently serve more than 14 million Kenyan customers, a number that is growing month on month, and in the last quarter our revenue numbers were up double digit in constant currency in Kenya.
“Our strategy to focus on winning more customers, invest in a best in class voice and data network and progressively expand our mobile money business, will continue to build on these results in order to deliver against the opportunities the Kenyan market has to offer.”
The share price of Airtel Africa closes on Wednesday at N348 per share.
