Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel, which operates in nearly 17 countries, entered into a definitive agreement with Millicom International Cellular S.A. to acquire 100 percent equity stake in its Rwanda operation. Millicom operates under the brand name of Tigo Rwanda.
The new entity, Airtel Rwanda, will consolidate Rwandan telecom market and make Airtel the second largest telecom operator in the African country. Acquisition of Tigo Rwanda is expected to add revenues of over $80 million for Bharti Airtel and increase revenue market share to over 40 per cent. “The consideration for the transaction is based on approximately 6x EBITDA multiple, payable over two years,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement to the stock exchanges.
Airtel at present operates in 15 African countries apart from India and South Asia. According to Business Today, Bharti Airtel Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal said “Airtel and Tigo have already merged their operations to create a strong viable entity in Ghana. Today, it has taken yet another important step to acquire Tigo Rwanda to become a profitable and a strong challenger in a two-player market,”.
The existing customers of Tigo Rwanda will join Airtel’s global network, which has over 370 million subscribers worldwide. The new customers get the benefits of ‘One Airtel’ network with lower roaming rates across Africa and South Asia.
Airtel has been on an acquisition spree in Africa, India’s largest telecom operator had earlier acquired assets in Uganda (Warid) and Congo B (Warid), Kenya (yu Mobile) and consolidated operations in Ghana (Millicom).
With presence in 15 African countries, Airtel is one of the largest telecom service providers across the continent in terms of geographical reach and had close to 83 million customers at the end of quarter ended September 30, 2017, the statement said.
