Airtel Africa Abandons Inconclusive Merger Agreement

Airtel Africa Plc, one of Africa’s leading telecommunications companies, on Wednesday announced that it has pulled out of the agreement entered on February 8th, 2019 to merge its subsidiary Airtel Networks Kenya Limited and Telkom Kenya Limited.

In a statement released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the telecom giant said the decision to combine its businesses in Kenya was born out of the need to create an integrated telecommunications platform with mobile, enterprises and wholesale divisions.

It, however, said the company has decided to no longer pursue the completion of the transaction.

The statement reads, “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.”

Speaking on the deal, Raghunath Mandava, Airtel Africa CEO and MD 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.”