Safaricom Gets Green Light To Buy Essar (YU) Assets In Kenya
Finally, Safaricom has announced that it has received all regulatory approvals required to complete its US$ 80m (Kes. 7.2B) acquisition of various assets of Essar Telecommunications Kenya Limited (also known by their mobile network brand name YU). The acquisition is the largest of its kind in Kenya’s telecom sector has received approvals from the Communications Authority of Kenya, the Competition Authority of Kenya and the Capital Markets Authority of Kenya.
The bottom-line is that Safaricom is bursting at the seams in terms of network capacity for its 22M+ mobile subscribers and therefore this acquisition is timely as it will enable Safaricom to massively improve overall mobile network performance. In addition, through the acquisition of Essar’s passive network infrastructure and frequency spectrum, Safaricom will also on-board 150 of Essar’s current employees in late November 2014. So, all factors considered, this is a ‘deal done’. As part of the same deal, Airtel Kenya will acquire all of YU’s 2.6M mobile subscribers as part of the dissolution of Essar’s mobile network business in Kenya.
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