Telkom in talks to take over Cell C
JOHANNESBURG – Partially state-owned Telkom on Friday confirmed that it was in talks to take-over struggling Cell C, which analysts said would likely receive overwhelming shareholder backing, given its potential to boost Telkom’s infrastructure.
Telkom said it planned to acquire Cell C on condition that it finalised its restructuring plan that addressed its debt burden, which had ballooned to about R9billion.
“The potential acquisition will be subject to Cell C completing a financial restructuring to ensure that its gearing levels are reduced to a sustainable level as specified by Telkom and commercial contractual relationships are renegotiated to terms acceptable to Telkom,” Telkom said.
Telkom told investors it had substantially concluded its due diligence. However, discussions were at a preliminary stage, and the potential acquisition would be subject to regulatory approvals. In a separate statement, on Friday, Cell C confirmed that it had received a non-binding offer from Telkom.
Source: iol.co.za