South Africa’s Vodacom and Neotel have reached a modified agreement to address spectrum access concerns. A spokesperson has declined comment on whether this would impact the R7bn price agreed in May 2014.
South Africa’s Vodacom (JSE:VOD) and Neotel have reached a modified agreement aimed at securing Competition Tribunal approval for their M&A transaction agreed in May 2014, according to a stock exchange filing.
The buyer said it would acquire “the majority of Neotel’s assets related to its fixed-line business as a going concern, excluding” its spectrum licences. As part of this modified deal, Neotel will “offer a roaming arrangement to all the mobile network operators including Vodacom South Africa”.
A spokesperson for Vodacom declined comment on whether the modification would impact the agreed R7bn price, the dollar value of which has slipped from US$677m to US$477m in the 19 months since the deal was agreed.
The two parties said they have submitted the restructured transaction to the Competition Tribunal, which will consider it at a pre-hearing scheduled for 10 December.
The Competition Tribunal had the final say on Vodacom’s acquisition of the Tata Communications-controlled fixed-line player, following approval by the Competition Commission in July and sector regulator ICASA in June. Comp Com had added conditions, most notably that Vodacom not access Neotel’s spectrum for two years.
On 23 November, Vodacom issued a statement saying the parties were discussing a revised transaction structure, which would “directly impact the extent of the approval being sought from the Competition Tribunal and the scope of the Competition Tribunal hearing.”