Telkom Kenya has bailed out of its proposed merger with Airtel, citing prospective piloted strategies to realise growth and success in the telecommunication industry.
According to an official statement, the company experienced hitches in acquiring approvals required to complete the merger transaction. However, the challenges presented a disguised second chance where the telco was able to explore alternative options to strengthen their position in the industry.
“Considering the challenges experienced in getting all the approvals required to complete the transaction, the company has simultaneously been evaluating alternative strategic options to strengthen its position and offering, within the market, as a genuine alternative for the consumer, enabling us to entrench our current brand as Kenya’s preferred data network service provider,” read a part of Telkom’s statement.
Further, the telco scrubbed off earlier envisioned redundancies reported in the month of July 2019. In the new tune, Telkom Kenya has said that the redundancies hold no ground whatsoever.
In February 2019, Airtel Kenya agreed to buy Telkom which is Kenya’s third largest mobile operator. The move was in order to create a united telco to create a notable competition against East Africa’s telecommunication giant, Safaricom.
According to the latest statistics, Airtel subscribers grew from 14,118, 569 in December 2019 to 14,682,293 in March 2020.