Telecel Group, headed by French tycoon Hugues Mulliez, said it’s in talks with Ghanaian authorities to get approvals for a deal to buy majority shares in Vodafone Ghana in an all-cash deal.
Telecel also plans to spend about $500 million in the first three years to expand and refinance Vodafone’s network across the country, Bloomberg has reported.
This comes after National Communications Authority (NCA) issued a statement on August 2, 2022 claiming government did not block the Vodafone-Telecel deal, but the proposal failed to meet regulatory requirements and international best practice.
The NCA’s statement was in direct response to a Techgh24 story that said Ghana government was blocking the deal.
Subsequent to the NCA’s statement, the Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has also been reported as saying the sale was stopped because Telecel lacks the financial and technical capacity to purchase and run Vodafone in a competitive market like Ghana.
But the French tycoon, who’s a shareholder in the Association Familiale Mulliez — owner of French retailers including Decathlon and Leroy Merlin, said the company will fund the acquisition with Telecel’s partners.
Telecel also said in a statement on Wednesday it is renegotiating the deal with NCA in the hope of getting regulatory approval for the deal.
Meanwhile, it said the potential sale of Vodafone Ghana’s towers aren’t being considered as part of the the deal funding.
Vodafone entered Ghana in 2008, when it paid the government $900 million for 70% of Ghana Telecommunications Co. The state retains a 30% holding in the business.
