South African state-owned Telkom still requires a number of regulatory approvals for its planned acquisition of local ICT company Business Connexion (BCX) to go ahead.
Initially, the deal was expected to be finalised on 20 October after BCX’…
South African state-owned Telkom still requires a number of regulatory approvals for its planned acquisition of local ICT company Business Connexion (BCX) to go ahead.
Initially, the deal was expected to be finalised on 20 October after BCX’ shareholders gave the green-light in mid-August.
But in a statement today, BCX said it has yet to receive the nod from the Competition Commission of South Africa, the Competition Authority in Botswana, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Commission and the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
However, the ICT company said the transaction is still on track and has been approved by the Namibian Competition Commission and the Tanzania Fair Competition Commission.
Telkom, the smallest of South Africa’s four mobile operators, agreed to buy BCX in late May for R2.67bn (US$257m).
Telkom had tried to buy BCX seven years prior but ran into regulatory hurdles. The company said the new bid formed part of its strategy to improve performance and expand into ICT services.
Telkom hired Absa Bank to advise it on the transaction, while BCX mandated Investec Bank.
