Vodacom said on Wednesday it had completed the purchase of African network and satellite services firm Gateway for $700-million.
The deal will help Vodacom — expected in 2009 to be majority owned by Britain’s Vodafone Group — to reposition itself as a provider of converged communication services rather than as a pure cellphone operator.
Vodafone, which has 50% of Vodacom, is finalising the purchase of a further 15% stake from Telkom for R22,5-billion.
The Gateway transaction includes Gateway’s core carrier and business network units, which provide satellite, business and interconnect services to African and multinational companies in 40 countries, but not its broadcasting division.
”As mobile phone penetration levels increase in South Africa, we are actively repositioning Vodacom as a total communications provider with new avenues for growth,” Pieter Uys, Vodacom’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Gateway is Africa’s largest independent provider of interconnection services via satellite and terrestrial network infrastructure and had sales of $257-million in the year to the end of December.
Uys said the company would retain Gateway’s brand and the business would be managed as an independent entity from Vodacom.
Vodacom Group will be listed on the JSE in 2009, once the Vodafone deal to buy an additional stake is completed.
As part of the deal, the Vodacom identity will remain visible on the African continent and it will be the exclusive investment vehicle through which Vodafone will make acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding Ghana and Kenya where Vodafone is already present. — Reuters