Bharti Airtel signs merger pact with Telkom Kenya

Sunil Mittal- owned Bharti Airtel on Friday said that its subsidiary, Airtel Networks Kenya Limited (Airtel Kenya) has signed an agreement with Telkom for merging their respective mobile, enterprise and carrier services businesses in Kenya to operate as - 'Airtel- Telkom'.

The finalization and closure of the transaction are subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

As per the agreement, both the partners will combine their operations in Kenya and establish an entity with enhanced scale, operational efficiency and strategic brand presence, Airtel said in a statement.

The entity will invest in networks to further accelerate the rollout of future technologies.

The Enterprise and Carrier Services businesses should benefit from a larger fiber footprint and an increased number of enterprise customers - including both large corporations and SMEs who would have access to a diverse portfolio of world-class solutions," Airtel said.

Meanwhile, Airtel's Africa revenues grew by 11.2 percent in Q3 led by strong growth in data.

Raghunath Mandava, MD and CEO, Africa, said: "Airtel Africa's Gross Revenue grew by 11.2 percent on a Y-o-Y basis. Data traffic grew by 61 percent, Voice minutes increased by 25 percent and Airtel Money throughput grew by 29 percent on a Y-o-Y basis.

Consequently, the EBITDA margin has expanded by 1.7 percent Y-o-Y and stood at 37.2 percent for the quarter. We continue to further invest in a strong LTE network to enhance customer experience and build a competitive advantage."

India revenues for Q3'19 at Rs 14,768 crore have declined by 2.3 percent Y-o-Y (declined 3.5 percent on reported) on an underlying basis. Mobile 4G data customers increased by 112 percent to 77.1 million from 36.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year.