Vodacom Group today received regulatory approval to acquire a 55% controlling stake in Vodafone Egypt in a R41 billion deal.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, revealed the development in an interview with ITWeb today.
“I have an exciting update to share on our controlling 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt. We have just been informed that Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority has approved the transaction. This marks a key milestone in completing the transaction and follows the approval of Egypt's National Telecom Regulatory Authority. With these approvals, we are confident we can complete the transaction in the near-term.”
According to Joosub, the purchase of a controlling shareholding in Egypt’s telecoms market leader, Vodafone Egypt, will enhance Vodacom’s growth and return potential. Further, he noted, Vodafone Egypt is expected to meaningfully diversify the group’s geographic potential.
The Midrand-headquartered telco first announced the deal in November last year, saying it had agreed terms with Vodafone on the transaction, and would fund the acquisition by issuing 242 million new ordinary shares at R135.75 per share and R8.2 billion in cash.
Vodafone Egypt holds a 43% revenue market share, and has 43 million consumer and enterprise customers.
The operator is Egypt’s largest mobile wallet provider through Vodafone Cash. According to the national telecoms regulatory authority, Vodafone Cash had almost 90% of mobile wallet transactions as at August 2021.
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