The Competition Authority of Kenya has unconditionally approved the proposed conversion of loans advanced by three foreign firms to Wananchi Group into equity.
The companies, Triple Hold Co Limited (THL), Liberty Global Europe 2 Limited (Liberty) and Altice Africa S.A.R.L (Altice) will have certain controlling rights of the Kenyan cable and satellite firm.
"The transaction, therefore, met the threshold for mandatory notification and full merger analysis as provided in the Competition(General) Rules, 2019," CAK said in a statement.
According to the authority, the parties’ combined and relevant revenue for the preceding year was over Sh1 billion.
Due to an overlap in the provision of telecommunication services, specifically in the provision of fixed broadband services, CAK said parties agreed that the relevant product market for the purposes of the transaction was determined as provision of internet and broadband services.
This means, the parties, Wananchi Group and the three firms will provide their products across the country.
Post-merger, the merged entity will have a combined market share of 29.3 per cent. Therefore, post-transaction, the existing market structure will not change significantly.
Additionally, the merged entity will face stiff competition from the other market players.
CAK assured that public that the transaction will not negatively affect the Kenyan firm employment in any way.
This, it said, is based on the fact that there will be no changes in the target’s organizational structure.
"Further, the parties submitted that the transaction will not have negative effects on international market access and competitiveness of SMEs'competitiveness," CAK added in its statement.
