MUMBAI: Telecommunications behemoth Bharti Airtel Ltd (Airtel) has received approval for the acquisition of Tigo Rwanda Ltd (Tigo Rwanda), a subsidiary of Millicom International Cellular SA (Millicom), from the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA).
According to Airtel’s release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the merged entity will have the largest customer base in Rwanda with 5.9 million subscribers. The combined networks of the two companies will serve customers with voice/data services, global roaming and mobile banking services. It will also have Rwanda’s largest sales and distribution network.
“The merger will result in the only negative ebitda opco [operating company] joining other 13 positive ebitda opcos in Africa,” the release stated.
On completion, the acquisition is expected to strengthen Airtel’s market position in Rwanda.
With presence in 14 countries across Africa, Airtel is one of the largest telecom service providers on the continent in terms of geographical reach, and had close to 84 million customers at the end of quarter ended December 30, 2017.
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