Afrihost’s “secret” selling price revealed
MTN says that its acquisition of a controlling stake in Internet Service Provider, Afrihost, amounted to R408 million. This places the valuation of Afrihost at the time of the sale at R816 million.
The mobile operator presented its annual financial results for the year ended December 2014, on Wednesday (4 March).
“In November 2014, the Group acquired 50% plus one share of Afrihost for R408 million, thereby obtaining control of Afrihost,” MTN said.
Afrihost said in November that it expected its partnership with MTN to bring more opportunities to its clients by leveraging MTN’s investment in broadband and other technologies.
Operationally, Afrihost said that the deal would not influence the way it operates, nor its brand.
“We want to assure all our clients that nothing will change at Afrihost, operationally. Our management and systems will remain in place and Afrihost will continue to play the innovative role our clients expect in the industry,” said CEO Gian Visser.
“Our passionate focus on service stays the same. Our brand stays the same. We keep working out of our own premises,” he added.
Visser told Afrihost customers that there is basically only one change: “We have a big brother standing by our side, shoulder to shoulder, supporting us in our dream and goal to become the absolute best company in South Africa”.
Afrihost moved its DSL services to the MTN network in October 2012, with the ISP entering the mobile data arena just a year later in September 2013.
More on Afrihost-MTN deal
Afrihost’s billion rand selling price: sources
MTN’s Afrihost acquisition approval recommended