MTN says that its acquisition of a controlling stake in Internet Service Provider, Afrihost, amounted to R408 million.<\/p>\n
The mobile operator presented its annual financial results for the year ended December 2014, on Wednesday (4 March).<\/p>\n
“In November 2014, the Group acquired 50% plus one share of Afrihost for R408 million, thereby obtaining control of Afrihost,” MTN said.<\/p>\n
This would value Afrihost at around R816 million.<\/p>\n
Afrihost said in November that it expected its partnership with MTN to bring more opportunities to its clients by leveraging MTN\u2019s investment in broadband and other technologies.<\/p>\n
Operationally, Afrihost said that the deal would not influence the way it operates, nor its brand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to assure all our clients that nothing will change at Afrihost, operationally. Our management and systems will remain in place and Afrihost will continue to play the innovative role our clients expect in the industry,\u201d said CEO Gian Visser.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll just have a big brother behind us to make sure we have all the resources we need to delight our clients at every opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n
Afrihost moved its DSL services to the MTN network in October 2012, with the ISP entering the mobile data arena just a year later in September 2013.<\/p>\n
In June 2014, MTN announced its intention to acquire 50% plus one share of Afrihost, which was then brought before the Competition Commission for approval.<\/p>\n
Afrihost-MTN deal clears all regulatory hurdles<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n MTN\u2019s R1 billion valuation of Afrihost<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n