The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved the merger between Airtel and Telkom Kenya. The approval came after a 10-month long quid pro quo between the regulators and the telcos.
The move by the two telecom operators to merge their companies begun in February. The merger was in a bid to control a larger market share and compete holistically with Safaricom, the largest telco in Kenya.
The merger, however, met its first major setback in August over corrupt practices and shady deals. A report shared on our platform revealed that the merger was halted by Kenya’s Anti-Corruption Commission over the Misappropriation of funds.
See Also: Airtel Kenya and Telkom Merger halted over Corrupt dealings
However, the merger has gone through as it receives a final go-ahead from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK). The merged company will now be referred to as Airtel-Telkom.
In a report released by Kenya Gazatte during the weekend, CAK enunciated the conditions for the merger. Some of the conditions issued by the Competition Authority of Kenya includes;
- The merged telcos shall retain 349 of its 647 employees.
- This 349 employees will constitute 114 employees of Telkom Kenya, and 120 employees by the merged entity. Also, an additional 115 employees will be retained by the network partner of the merged entity for 2 years.
- Also, the merged entity will not be permitted to sell or transfer its operating spectrum licenses until it expires.
- At the expiry of the term of the merged entities’ operating license, 900MHZ & 1800MHZ spectrum acquired from Telkom will go back to the Kenya Government.
- The merged entities will also be barred from any other sales deals for the next five years.
Meanwhile, the Kenya regulatory body has noted that it will investigate any misappropriation of funds noticed in the merged entity.
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