South Africa’s Competition Commission has approved Cell C’s proposed acquisition of Comm Equipment Company (CEC).
In a statement, the Commission said it had cleared the deal without conditions, finding it unlikely to substantially impact competition in any market and noting that it does not raise significant public-interest concerns.
Explaining its decision, the watchdog said Cell C is the primary acquiring firm, is not controlled by another company, and has a widely distributed shareholding with no single controlling shareholder.
CEC is wholly owned by The Prepaid Company (TPC), a mobile virtual network aggregator (MVNA) that provisions airtime and data in South Africa. TPC’s parent, Blue Label Telecoms, will acquire shares in Cell C as part of the transaction, according to Techpoint Africa.
The approval follows rival Vodacom’s move to bolster its portfolio via the acquisition of Maziv, the parent company of Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa.
