Orange has signed a deal with Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) to acquire the latter’s operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leon.
The companies had signed an initial agreement in July 2015 for the acquisition of Airtel’s operations in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Chad and Congo-Brazzaville.
Yet the agreement over the latter two countries has lapsed, and the companies didn’t provide any explanation as to why.
Orange said its outlay for the deals is based on the financials of the two companies for the year ended March 31, 2016 and will represent the equivalent of 7.9 times Airtel’s ebitda in these two countries at this time.
Orange will acquire 100% of the two companies’ share capital with consolidated revenue of €275 million ($299 million), according to a statement from Orange.
These acquisitions will be implemented in partnership with Orange’s subsidiaries in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, and will add 5.5 million new customers to Orange’s subscriber base.
“This acquisition marks an important step forward in Orange’s dynamic growth strategy and will bring the Group’s African footprint up to 20 countries in 2016,” Orange said in the statement.
Lazard and Société Générale were advisors to Orange for this transaction. Airtel was advised by Arma Partners LLP.