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MTN signs confidentiality agreement with Zim operator
MTN, has signed a confidentiality agreement with Zim state-owned cellular network, NetOne, as the South Africa-based mobile company moved closer to acquiring a key stake in the Zimbabwean company. Sources in Harare said MTN had wound up its due diligence on NetOne and was expected to place its final bid soon.
“It's now a matter of time. They have signed confidentiality agreements as they move towards a final deal,” a senior employee at NetOne said, insisting the two firms had now entered “a sensitive phase in which they now have to agree on figures.”
NetOne CEO, Reward Kangai, and board chairman Calistus Ndlovu, have both confirmed that they are in talks with an unidentified bidder.
Ndlovu told a parliamentary portfolio committee on information and communication technology: “We have been actively seeking strategic partnerships. We had one or two partners expressing interest (in acquiring a stake) and now we are left with one.”
The move by MTN to enter Zimbabwe through an acquisition in NetOne has sent the country's largest mobile network operator by subscriber numbers, Econet Wireless, jostling to improve operations to maintain its leadership position on the market, now one of the most lucrative on the continent.
Econet has rolled out a number of projects, including installation of new equipment and fibre optic cables across various parts of the country.
About Dumisani Ndlela
Dumisani Ndlela is a Zimbabwean journalist specialising in business and financial reporting, with experience reporting on commodities, stock and financial markets, advertising, marketing and the media. He has previously reported from a number of regional countries as well as from the UK and Germany on commodities and regional integration. He can be contacted on ku.oc.oohay@aleldnd.