Vodafone & Telecel Group |
An application by the Vodafone Group to transfer
the Telecel Group a 70% majority of the shares in Vodafone Ghana was rejected
by the National Communications Authority (NCA).
The NCA said in a news statement released today
that the application did not satisfy the legal requirements for approval.
"In January 2022, the NCA received an
application for the transfer of 70% majority shares in Ghana Telecommunications
Company Limited (Vodafone Ghana) from Vodafone International Holdings B.V. to
the Telecel Group," the release said.
"In accordance with due process, the
Authority evaluated the application on various criteria and engaged both
Vodafone and Telecel Group. After a critical regulatory review and evaluation,
the NCA concluded that the request did not meet the regulatory threshold for
approval to be granted".
Reaction
The NCA said the release was in response to media
reports "purporting a block of the sale of Vodafone Ghana to the Telecel
Group by the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation (MoCD)".
According to a Bloomberg story from last week, the
Vodafone Group plans to leave Ghana's cellular industry in order to concentrate
on its core countries.
The British telecom firm has consented to sell
Telecel Group, an African-focused telecom business, 70% of its investment in
Ghana's operations, subject to regulatory permission from the Ghanaian
government via the Ministry of Communications.
When it paid $900 million for a 70% interest in
the Ghana Telecommunications Company, Vodafone entered the country in 2008.
"Telecel plans to help fund the acquisition
by later offloading the Ghana business’ mobile towers, according to people
familiar with the matter", the Bloomberg report said.
Vodafone has progressively consolidated its
holdings in Africa via its sub-Saharan subsidiary, Vodacom Group Ltd., of which
it controls 60.5%.
Early in 2021, Vodafone considered selling its
Ghanaian businesses to Vodacom. While the transaction did not go through, later
that year, Vodafone sold a 55% ownership stake in its Egyptian operations to
the firm.
According to its website, Telecel was established
in 1986 and now works in more than 30 countries with over 700 employees.
The business has a history of expanding via
acquisitions, recently closing agreements in Mauritania, Liberia, and
Gibraltar.
The full NCA press statement below:
NCA HAS NOT BLOCKED SALE OF VODAFONE GHANA’S OPERATIONS TO TELECEL GROUP pic.twitter.com/zvX7G6sxDb
— NCA Ghana (@NCAGhana) August 2, 2022
Source: ghananews.hrforum.uk
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