Airtel Finally Acquires African Firm Zain Group

Bharati Airtel has completed the acquisition of Zain Group, which is valued at $10.7 billion. This will allow Airtel to take complete control of operations of Zain in 15 countries across Africa. Airtel will now be commanding a customer base of 180 million across Asia and Africa.

“Bharti, which has been working towards its vision of expansion into Africa, is committed to contributing to the growth of telecom in the region by taking networks deep into these countries and providing affordable services that touch the common man. We also promise our customers in Africa a superior brand experience and a portfolio of innovative products and services,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti.

Zain Group covers 15 countries with a total customer base of over 42 million. The total population base covered is over 450 million with telecom penetration of approximately 32 percent. “We would like to welcome over 6500 talented and highly qualified professionals to the Bharti family and look forward to working with them to take these operations from strength to strength. We would like to thank the Zain team for their professionalism, which enabled us to close this transaction in a record time,” added Bharti.

Airtel’s press statement reports that the countries in which Bharti has acquired the operations are - Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Zain is the market leader in 10 of the 15 countries and second in 4 countries.

Asaad Al-Banwan, Chairman, Zain, said “We wholeheartedly wish Bharti Airtel great success in continuing the development of telecommunications across the African continent, and we are confident that the people of Africa will welcome such a committed and reputable telecom powerhouse.”