Vodacom Acquires 30% Stake in South Africa’s CIVH InfraCo

Vodacom Group recently announces that it has agreed terms to acquire a strategic stake in Community Investment Ventures Holdings’ (CIVH) fibre assets that will transform its South African fibre business and accelerate the purpose-led Group’s ambition of connecting people for a better future.

Vodacom Group will hold a co-controlling 30% equity interest in a newly formed InfraCo entity into which all of the material assets currently owned by Dark Fibre Africa (‘DFA’) and Vumatel will be transferred in addition to certain Vodacom owned fibre assets. Vodacom has an option to acquire an additional 10% stake in InfraCo to 40%. 

Vodacom will pay for the transaction through a combination of R6 billion cash and the contribution of its fibre-to-the-home, fibre-to-the-business and Business-to-Business transmission access fibre network infrastructure to the InfraCo, at a valuation of R4.2 billion, in return for new shares in InfraCo. Vodacom will acquire further (secondary) shares from CIVH sufficient to increase its shareholding to at least 30% in the InfraCo at a pre-agreed formula.

The transaction will enhance and scale Vodacom’s fixed offerings across both the consumer and business segments and leverage a shared cost model to accelerate the provision of open-access infrastructure in South Africa.

CIVH operates electronic communications infrastructure through its subsidiaries Vumatel and DFA. Vumatel is South Africa’s leading fibre network operator, which builds, owns and operates a high-speed FTTH network, using a wholesale open-access model. In terms of the agreement, Vumatel’s fibre network will be merged with Vodacom’s fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-business assets.

DFA is a leading provider of carrier-grade dark fibre, specialising in building, installing, and operating a national metro fibre network spanning 13,000 km and 37,000 connected circuits and supplying a range of dark fibre and actively managed fibre products to enterprise customers.

Shameel Joosub, CEO, Vodacom Group: “Our agreement with CIVH aligns with Vodacom Group’s strategy to build high quality and resilient fixed and mobile networks with and through selected strategic partnerships across the African continent. It also supports Vodacom’s purpose-driven plan to assist the government in rebuilding the economy post-Covid.”

Raymond Ndlovu, CEO, CIVH Group: “This milestone investment will boost our ambitious fibre roll-out programme across the country and assist in narrowing the digital divide by enabling affordable access to connectivity in some of the most vulnerable parts of our society.”