Telkom Kenya and Airtel have today signed an agreement to merge the two mobile companies, to operate under joint new venture named Airtel-Telkom
India’s Bharti Airtel today announced that its unit, Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd, has agreed to merge with Telkom Kenya Ltd, which is Kenya’s smallest telecom operator.
Last month, three industry sources said that Bharti Airtel was in talks to buy Telkom Kenya, to create a stronger challenger to market leader Safaricom.
The companies will combine their respective mobile, enterprise and carrier services businesses in Kenya to operate as Airtel-Telkom, Airtel said, without revealing further details.
Telkom Kenya is majority owned (60 percent) by the UK-based private equity firm Helios Investment Partners. The Kenyan government owns 40 percent.
On the same Safaricom’s Bob Colloymore has welcomed the new partnership citing lower charges for subscribers despite being a threat to Safaricom’s business.
Bob Collymore: Internet charges will come down. We are hoping that it becomes more affordable to all because its a basic right people should be able to exercise #TradingBell #CollymoreOnTradingBell pic.twitter.com/QUf2FOnIeu
— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) February 8, 2019