Tata Communications of India and minority shareholders in Neotel led by Nexus Connexion agreed for Liquid Telecom to acquire Neotel for 6.55 billion rand after initial discussions for a merger with South Africa's largest mobile network Vodacom fell through by because regulatory approval was not granted.
While Neotel‘s debt will be reduced, the core debt of group will come down by USD 50 million post the deal, says Pratibha Advani, CFO of Tata Communications.
Liquid Telecom and Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH) have entered into an agreement to acquire Neotel for ZAR 6.55 billion (Rs 2900 crore).
Liquid Telecom will acquire Neotel for Rs 2,900 crore. RBH, post the acquisition, will hold 30 percent stake in Neotel.
"The framework agreement enables Airtel operations to leverage Liquid Telecom's existing 20,000km-long fibre network across east, central and southern Africa, as well as enjoy new purpose-built fibre infrastructure, to connect Airtel's mobile base stations and enterprise customers with fibre," Airtel said in a statement.