South African operator Rain submitted a request for rival Telkom to acquire it, a move that could potentially disrupt MTN’s intentions to buy Telkom.
Reuters reported, Telkom received a non-binding proposal from Rain which invited Telkom to acquire it in an exchange for new shares in Telkom.
Telkom’s board is currently evaluating the proposal. MTN said in a statement it received letter from Telkom on the matter and would release a statement “setting out its position” in regards to its own potential transaction with Telkom.
The announcement comes while MTN holds talks to acquire Telkom, a move to raise competition against market leader Vodacom.
In their respective 2021 results, MTN reported 35 million mobile customers and Telkom had 15.3 million. Meanwhile, market leader Vodacom has around 45 million customers, and Rain reportedly has under two million subscribers.