Orange continues to expand in Africa with the acquisition of two businesses owned by Bharti Airtel International.
The France-based operator will acquire 100 percent of the share capital of Airtel’s subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone, who have 5.5 million customers between them.
Exact financial details were not disclosed, but Orange said the consolidated revenue of the two companies was around €275 million and that it would pay around 7.9 times EBITDA.
The two companies revealed they were in discussions about a deal last summer.
The talks included the possibility of a deal for Airtel’s assets in Chad and Congo Brazzaville, but the two companies have not come to any agreement for them.
Yesterday, Orange announced plans to acquire Cellcom Liberia.
The operator is chasing revenue and EBITDA growth in excess of 20 percent in Africa by 2018.
The new deals bring the number of opcos it has in the continent to 20.
In December, it announced plans to market domestic power supply solutions to customers in rural Africa following a partnership with electricity company Engie.
Orange lifted its earnings outlook for the 2015 financial year, partly on the back of the growth it is experiencing in Africa.
Revenues climbed 6.8 percent in Africa and the Middle East during the third quarter.
Source: http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/11283-orange-acquires-two-bharti-airtel-assets-in-africa