Shareholders in South African mobile giant MTN have approved plans to buy Dubai-listed Investcom in a deal to create the biggest mobile operator in Africa and the Middle East, MTN said on Wednesday.
The $5,5-billion (€4,3-billion) deal, first announced on May 2, was expected to lead to operations in 21 countries and serving nearly 30-million subscribers.
”The MTN Group is pleased to announce that its shareholders have approved all the resolutions relating to the proposed offer by MTN to acquire … Investcom LLC,” MTN said in a statement, issued in Johannesburg.
”The approval of these resolutions … is good progress towards the conclusion of the Investcom deal and brings us closer to the realisation of the MTN Group’s strategy to consolidate our position in Africa and the Middle East,” MTN chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko added.
MTN will now submit an application to the JSE for the listing of a maximum of 204 298 809 new MTN Group ordinary shares.
The deal was already approved by shareholders owning 78,1% in Investcom and MTN said the ”acquisition has become unconditional as to acceptances”.
It also noted that Moodys Investors Service and Fitch on Tuesday awarded the company its first international and national investment grade ratings.
MTN sought these ratings as part of the process of funding the acquisition of Investcom, which also has a listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Johannesburg-based analyst Reg Rumney recently said that the deal was one of the biggest by a South African-listed company.
”What this deal shows is that outward investment is becoming very important for South Africa in the modern world,” Rumney told Agence France-Presse.
”You have to go global or risk being swallowed up,” he said. – Sapa-AFP