Vox said to be up for sale

Vox Telecom shareholders are looking to sell the South African network provider for about R3-billion to take advantage of consolidation in the industry, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Owners including FirstRand’s Rand Merchant Bank and lender Investec see an opportunity to exit, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public.

That’s after a unit of Remgro, the investment vehicle of South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert, bought part of fiber provider Vumatel earlier this month, showing there’s appetite for deals in the industry.

Fibre-to-home is booming in South Africa’s biggest cities as new entrants and infrastructure bring down the cost of high-speed Internet.

Vox, RMB and Investec declined to comment.

RMB and Investec were part of a group led by Lereko Metier that bought Vox for R452-million in 2011. The owners considered a share sale on Johannesburg’s stock exchange in 2014, but didn’t attract a valuation at which they wanted to sell. Vox has since invested in expanding and building its services, said the people.

The Johannesburg-based company had earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of about R300-million during its latest financial year.  — (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP