Naspers Ltd and a South African unit of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp are in talks to sell their joint venture in the country to fibre-optic infrastructure company Link Africa, according to three people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
Investec Ltd is managing the sale of VAST Networks, for which Link has offered R450 million ($33 million), said the people, asking not to be identified because the details are private.<\/p>\n
The deal is not yet final and terms could change, said two of the people.<\/p>\n
Naspers, owns 51% of VAST, which according to its website is Africa\u2019s largest public Wi-Fi network, while NTT\u2019s Johannesburg-based Dimension Data, holds the balance.<\/p>\n
Naspers declined to comment. Representatives for Dimension Data, Link Africa and Investec didn\u2019t immediately respond to emails and phone messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n
VAST was started in 2015 to provide open-access Wi-Fi network infrastructure in South Africa and holds a number of exclusive agreements with businesses.<\/p>\n
For Link Africa, which lays fiber networks, the asset is attractive because it anticipates 5G networks being rolled out in South Africa. Those need high cell-phone density.<\/p>\n