Telkom and Airtel announced merger talks in February 2019 but they quickly came to a halt after a series of regulatory hurdles. Now, it appears they have the go-ahead to revive their merger plans after the High Court revoked a letter by the EACC.
Telkom had been ordered by the EACC to stop selling and recover properties already sold that would complete the transaction. A decision that the High Court deemed illegal and unlawful since only a court order could initiate such an action.
The Court was also informed that the Communications Authority (CA) and the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) would have only approved the merger if the EACC cleared the transaction.
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The decision clears the way for the stalled merger to resume. Although, it remains uncertain whether the companies are interested in reviving the merger talks.
The two mobile operators reached a consensus last year to hold off on their plans. Telkom addressed that it was due to the challenges involved in getting the approvals required to complete the merger.
An Airtel-Telkom merger would have created sufficient competition to challenge long-term market leader Safaricom. As they are still under watch by the CA, we’ll have to wait and see how both companies handle the situation after the High Court’s decision.
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Alfred Gitonga is a passionate tech news writer with a deep interest in smartphones and related technologies. He is a staff writer at Mobitrends.co.ke.
