The owner of Vumatel, SA's largest fibre-to-the-home operator, says its proposed merger with Vodacom - which the Competition Commission This week, the commission recommended that the deal be prohibited, saying it would lessen competition.
The deal, which has been in the works since 2021, would see Vodacom buy a large stake in Maziv, the company that owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa . DFA provides fibre services in and between SA's towns and cities. Maziv is owned by Community Investment Ventures Holdings , which falls under JSE-listed investment holding company Remgro.
After the commission recommended on Tuesday that the deal be blocked, Maziv said it would seek to have the merger approved by the Competition Tribunal. The tribunal can overturn recommendations made by the commission for some mergers. "The transaction will be hugely beneficial to the market in that Vodacom fibre assets will, as a result of the transaction, become commercially available on an open access, transparent and non-discriminatory basis," said Maziv.