Liquid Telecom wins approval to purchase Neotel for R6.55 billion
Liquid Telecom, which is majority-owned by Econet Global, has received approval from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), to purchase Neotel for R6.55 billion.
The company received approval from South Africa’s Competition Commission in October 2016.
Liquid Telecom’s partner, South African investment group Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), will own a 30% stake in Neotel.
Vodacom originally agreed to buy Neotel from Tata Communications in May 2014. The deal was curbed by a competition inquiry, while Telkom and MTN also appealed against the merger.
The group subsequently restructured its deal, where it would acquire all of Neotel’s assets related to its fixed line business – excluding spectrum licences – and Neotel would then offer roaming agreements to all South African operators, including Vodacom.
Vodacom however, announced as late as March of 2016, that the deal had fallen through.
The combined network assets and service platforms will give Liquid Telecom a bigger reach across Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, enabling it to offer access via a single connection to over 40,000km of cross border, national and metro fibre networks across 12 countries, the company said.
Liquid Telecom said it will invest in Neotel’s products and services in order to support the rising demand for network services in South Africa and other African countries.
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