The long awaited merger between the Kenyan operations of Telkom and Airtel has been approved by the COMESA competition commission.
The deal ran into a lot of headwind in Kenya, due to ongoing corruption investigation and legal suits by employees and by main competitor, Safaricom, who wanted their cases closed prior to the merger.
Safaricom wants Telkom and Airtel clear their respective debts of Sh906.6 million and Sh390.7 million. They owe the money to the telco giant for interconnection, co-location and fibre services.
The competitions regulator said that the merger would not significantly skew competition in the regional market. Instead, the regulator noted, would result in a more vibrant market.
In a letter, the regulator said, “The committee responsible for initial determination (CID) determined that the merger was not likely to substantially lessen competition in the common market or any part of it.”
It added, “Consequently the transaction is not likely to negatively affect trade between members. The CID therefore approved the transaction. The decision does not relieve the merging parties from their obligation to comply with other applicable laws.”
Related article: Airtel-Telkom merger plans put on hold by Communications Authority of Kenya
Kenyan commission regulators are yet to approve the telcos merger.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) suspended the merger citing pending investigations into the deal by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Agency (EACC) .
The investigation seeks to establish the circumstances under which the Treasury transferred its stake in Telkom Kenya to Orange, which then sold it to private equity fund, Helios.
Christopher Wambua, the CA director in charge of communications and public affairs, said, “We have advised the parties that, in light of government shareholding in Telkom Kenya, approval shall only be granted once all the conditions set out are fulfilled and the transaction is cleared by the EACC.”
