Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. wants to boost its international footprint, exploring a possible takeover of Vodacom. That’s right, the Emirati giant is looking to Africa to expand and is eyeing Vodafone Plc’s African arm, Vodacom, people familiar with the matter have stated.
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Based in Abu Dhabi, Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. is finalising a feasibility study to potentially make an offer for part or all of the Vodacom Group Ltd., listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It is Vodafone’s last remaining stake in an African business, with Vodacom recently completing its acquisition of Vodafone’s Egypt operations. People familiar with the matter requested not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the potential deal.
When the potential deal came to light, the stock price of Vodacom on the JDE jumped by more than 7 percent. It was the biggest daily gain of the stock since March 2020, when share prices started to recover following the lockdown-induced collapse.
Also known as Etisalat, the Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. came forward with a possible merger with the largest telecoms company in Africa. It is exploring combining some of its operations with Vodacom or buying Vodacom assets in specific countries. Back in May, Etisalat already spent around $4.4 billion for a 9.8 percent stake in Vodafone, which was expanded to 11 percent this month.
Etisalat is also the controlling shareholder of North African carrier Maroc Telecom, which has a market value of about $9.5 billion in Casablanca. Telecom companies in the Middle East have been stepping up deal making this year. Etisalat has been working to boost its shareholding in Saudi Arabia’s Mobily, while Qatar’s Ooredoo QPSC is working on a sale of its network towers and is also considering carving out its data centre unit.
We’ll be following this developing story closely.
