MTN Group, the South African telco, has signed a partnership with Germany-based Rocket Internet to provide online retail and digital services in the Middle East.
The deal follows a similar transaction a few days ago. In mid-December, MTN agreed to buy…
MTN Group, the South African telco, has signed a partnership with Germany-based Rocket Internet to provide online retail and digital services in the Middle East.
The deal follows a similar transaction a few days ago. In mid-December, MTN agreed to buy a third of Africa Internet Holding (AIH), an internet company owned by Millicom and Rocket Internet.
AIH, which is present in 13 African countries, says it offers various services including real estate classifieds, e-commerce and hotel booking, among several others.
Under the new deal, MTN and Rocket will create a 50:50 JV, known as Middle East Internet Holding (MEIH), to develop internet businesses in the Middle East.
MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa said in a statement: “The agreement with Rocket marks yet another important milestone in our journey of pursuing digital business adjacencies as one of our key strategic priorities, to drive growth and value for our customers.”
MTN said it will invest around €300m over the next two to four years into AIH and MEIH. The investments are subject to regulatory approval, and the two transactions are expected to close during Q1 and Q2 of 2014 respectively.