Pan-African mobile operator Celtel has expanded it reach across the continent, acquiring a majority stake in Madagascan GSM mobile operator Madacom.
Celtel, owned by Kuwaiti operator MTC, paid Hong Kong-based Dastacom US$97 million for the majority stake, spreading its African operations across 14 countries and 8.5 million subscribers.
Madacom provides mobile coverage to over 200,000 customers across the East African island of Madagascar, a country with a population of 18 million. It competes with Orange Madagascar, a subsidiary of France Telecom-owned Orange.
The deal brings MTC’s total operations across Africa and the Middle East to 19, only one away from the 20 it publicly stated it wanted to operate by 2006. Salah Al Fouzan, MTC’s head of mergers and acquisitions, told Comms MEA in November that there were two opportunities in the pipeline. “One at least will be in Africa,” he said, without divulging the countries.
Dr. Saad Hamad Al-Barrak, MTC Group managing director, said the focus on emerging markets was a key component of his company’s growth strategy. “The acquisition of a majority stake in Madacom is a very successful step in the Group’s plans to expand its footprint in Africa.”
MTC will also be bidding for a 35% stake in Tunisian incumbent, Tunisie Telecom, next year.
On December 13 2005, MTC lost out to Vodafone in the auction for Turkey’s second GSM operator Telsim, ending its bidding at US$4.53 billion and making way for the UK-based operator to step claim victory with US$4.55 billion.
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