Econet Wireless-owned African fibre and satellite broadband provider Liquid Telecom is to acquire the East African telecom assets of The Altech Group in return for an 8.6% stake in the company.
Under the deal, Altech will sell its 61% stake in data…
Econet Wireless-owned African fibre and satellite broadband provider Liquid Telecom is to acquire the East African telecom assets of The Altech Group in return for an 8.6% stake in the company.
Under the deal, Altech will sell its 61% stake in data carrier and infrastructure provider Kenya Data Networks; all of Africa Data Networks, an operator in the DRC; Swift Global, a provider of voice, data and mobility solutions; Stream, a service provider in Rwanda; and InfoCom, an ISP in Uganda.
In return, Altech will receive an initial 8.6% economic stake in Liquid, 10% of the voting rights and a seat on the board. Altech will also subscribe for additional new ordinary shares in Liquid, for a cash consideration of US$16.5m. Liquid’s controlling shareholders have also agreed that Altech will have the opportunity to increase it shareholding in the future.
The acquisition will create Africa’s largest single fibre network spanning Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho and South Africa.
Founded in 1997, Liquid provides wholesale fibre optic and satellite carrier services to telecommunications operators in developing countries. The company owns and operates multiple satellite ground facilities in the eight African countries as well as the United Kingdom and leases transponders on three satellites, including Eutelsat-10A (W2A) and Eutelsat 5 West A (Atlantic Bird 3). Liquid utilises these to offer both GSM backhaul and satellite broadband services.
The deal has to be approved by various regulatory authorities included those in DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.
Investec acted as Altech’s financial adviser on the deal.
