The Telecel Group has confirmed finalizing an agreement with MTN Group, for the acquisition of MTN’s equity interests and shareholder loans in both MTN Guinea-Bissau and MTN Guinea Conakry.
A statement from the Telecel Group said the company is “currently in the process of meeting specific conditions precedent to complete the transaction.”
The statement said Telecel, a leading telecommunications operator with a significant presence across Africa, intends to utilize its expertise and resources to revitalize and elevate the operations in both countries, just like it has started doing in Ghana after acquiring majority share in Vodafone Ghana a year ago.
“Telecel’s strategic move underscores the commitment to expanding its footprint in the
Western African region, aiming for robust and steady growth,” it said. “Telecel has firm dedication to advancing telecommunication and FinTech services across the continent and seeks to drive technological and economic progress in these new markets, affirming Telecel’s role as a catalyst for development and innovation.”
It would be recalled that MTN Group hinted in its 2023 full year financial report that it has relinquished those two operations to Telecel for an undisclosed amount. But this statement from Telecel indicates that the deal involves taking over shareholder loans as well, which is debt for Telecel to carry on.
In Ghana, Puretvonline.com was reliably informed that Telecel also inherited a huge debt from Vodafone, to the tune of over US$150 million, plus some outstanding licensing fees payable to the industry regulator. And even though Telecel reported the transaction was an “all-cash deal”, till date no actual cash value for the deal has been made public yet.
Meanwhile, Telecel has reportedly stated aggressive investments in Ghana since taking over. It took advantage of the technology neutrality policy to improve the 4G network to 4G+ and has promised to further improve the network tremendously over the next few years.