- Bringing to an end the merger process that started in February 8, 2019, Telkom Kenya has officially announced its decision to drop its merger proposal with Airtel.
- After reviewing other available options, the firm has decided to withdraw the notice of redundancy issued on 31st July 2019 providing relief to hundreds of employees who were on the firing line
Bringing to an end the merger process that started in February 8, 2019, Telkom Kenya has officially announced its decision to drop its merger proposal with Airtel. According to Telkom Chief Executive Mugo Kibati Telkom has decided not to pursue the proposed joint venture transaction with Airtel Networks Kenya Limited. Mr Kibati stated that after reviewing other available options, the firm has decided to withdraw the notice of redundancy issued on 31st July 2019 providing relief to hundreds of employees who were on the firing line. The firm had fired 575 staff.
After the merger plan of Telkom Kenya’s mobile, enterprise and Airtel Networks Kenya Limited was announced, the company had been pursuing various approvals to close the transaction. After encountering various challenges in getting all the approvals to complete the transaction, the company started evaluating alternative strategic options to strengthen its position within the market and strengthen the current brand as Kenya’s preferred data network service provider. It also derived confidence from the digital transformation brought about by the recent dynamics of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The merger would have produced a telco that had the financial strength to fight market leader Safaricom. It would have helped Airtel to pull its Kenyan operations out of the loss-making territory.
