By Sfundo Parakozov
South Africa’s biggest telecoms operator Vodacom said on Monday it will not look into other M&A deals after its proposed merger with fibre group Maziv was blocked by regulators last month.
The decision by the country’s Competition Tribunal was a blow to Vodacom’s ambitions of expanding its fibre footprint nationwide.
It followed an extensive 26-day hearing where the merger parties, the Competition Commission, government and rivals of Vodacom and Maziv argued for or against the deal which was initially proposed in 2021.
Vodacom Chief Executive Shameel Joosub said that looking at other M&A deals is off the table.
“We don’t want to be stuck in the competition authorities for another three years,” he told a media call on Monday after the group reported a 19.4% drop in half-year earnings, hurt by start-up losses at its Ethiopian operations and foreign currency depreciation.
Vodacom shares were down 4.53% at
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