Telkom welcomes the Competition Commission’s recommendation to the Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) to approve the proposed transaction to sell 100% of Swiftnet, with conditions.
Telkom obtained shareholder approval on 24 May 2024 for the sale of the masts and towers business housed in Swiftnet for R6.75 billion to an infrastructure fund managed by a subsidiary of Actis LLP, with Royal Bafokeng Holdings as its B-BBEE partner.
Unlocking shareholder value
This decision remains pivotal to Telkom’s goal of unlocking shareholder value and streamlining our focus on core operations and strategic initiatives. The disposal has now been referred to the Tribunal for their final decision.
The Competition Commission states that the key condition to address is ‘the public interest concerns, where the purchaser has committed to ensuring continued procurement spend towards small/medium enterprises that are owned by historically disadvantaged persons (HDPs) for a period of five years from the merger implementation date’.
It’s important to note that the main outstanding suspensive conditions precedent to close the transaction are the regulatory approvals required from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the Competition Tribunal. We are diligently working towards securing these approvals.
Leading infrastructure company
“This decision marks a positive and significant step towards our journey to become a leading infrastructure company in South Africa.” says Group CEO at Telkom Serame Taukobong
