The Middle Eastern telecoms investment group Oger Telecom has made a non-binding offer for Telkom South Africa. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. Telkom says it is studying the offer as part of an ongoing review of its strategy and it will give a response in due course: ‘While Telkom is not presently in discussions with Oger, the board of Telkom will consider the Oger approach along with other alternatives as part of the review,’ it said in a statement. Late last year Telkom was considering selling its wireline business to local rival MTN Group and was also looking at the sale of its 50% stake in South Africa’s largest mobile operator, Vodacom, though both deals were eventually called off.
Dubai-based Oger Telecom already owns 75% of South Africa’s third largest mobile operator, Cell C, and also has interests in Turkey (Turk Telecom) and Romania (Zapp), plus internet operations in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan. Earlier this week Saudi Arabia’s dominant telco, STC, agreed a USD2.6 billion deal to acquire a 35% stake in Oger Telecom.