{"id":183858,"date":"2016-10-25T09:03:11","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T07:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=183858"},"modified":"2016-10-25T09:04:24","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T07:04:24","slug":"why-afrihost-bought-itself-back-from-mtn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/business\/183858-why-afrihost-bought-itself-back-from-mtn.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Afrihost bought itself back from MTN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afrihost\u2019s directors bought the company back from MTN<\/a><\/strong> because they wanted the ability to make decisions and develop and launch products within a matter of days.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt heart, we are dreamers and risk-taking entrepreneurs,\u201d Afrihost CEO Gian Visser said at the 2016 MyBroadband Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like pushing the edges and leaping off cliffs and that, in all honestly, often doesn\u2019t go well with big, structured corporates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since buying the company back from MTN, the main difference has been the speed of decision making.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, for our R1 for 250MB mobile data promotion<\/a><\/strong>: on Thursday night we had the idea and the directors were talking about it,\u201d said Visser.<\/p>\n

The next morning, they spoke to their development and branding teams, and by the middle of the following week, the deal was live and Afrihost was selling the product.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a saying we use a lot at Afrihost: If you\u2019re gonna be a cowboy, you\u2019ve gotta know how to ride,\u201d said Visser.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are cowboys, there\u2019s no questions about it, and we\u2019re planning to do a lot riding in the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MTN-Afrihost deal<\/h3>\n

MTN bought a controlling stake in Afrihost (50% + 1 share) in 2014 for R408 million.<\/p>\n

It sold back the investment for R325 million<\/a><\/strong>, which means MTN made a loss on the transaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on an agreement concluded by the Group to sell its 50.02% investment in Afrihost for [R325] million, a goodwill impairment loss of R202 million was recognised at 30 June 2016,\u201d said MTN.<\/p>\n

MTN said this goodwill impairment loss was \u201crecognised on the remeasurement of the assets to fair value less cost to sell in accordance with IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations\u201d.<\/p>\n