Government of Ghana to acquire 100% stake in AirtelTigo

The government of Ghana, Bharti Airtel, and Millicom International Cellular S.A. have announced the execution of a definitive agreement for transfer of ‘AirtelTigo’ to the government of Ghana, on a going concern basis.

At 11.51 am, shares of Bharti Airtel fell 2.62% to Rs526.40 on BSE, while the benchmark index, Sensex, fell 2.08% to 47,815.15.

In the proposed agreement, the government of Ghana will acquire 100% shares of AirtelTigo, along with all customers, assets and liabilities. Based on the agreement, the transaction will entail a takeover by the government of Ghana, after which AirtelTigo would become and operate as a state entity. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday.

The government of Ghana will make efforts to revive the company by making suitable investments, etc. and operate it while protecting the interests of customers, employees of the company and all other stakeholders.

The transaction is subject to closing of the mutually agreed conditions, and Airtel and Millicom, along with government of Ghana, will expeditiously complete the closing. Airtel had already written off its investment and provided for in the prior accounts. No further provision of material nature is envisaged, according to a press release.

Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of Rs853.60 crore in October-December quarter as against net loss of Rs1,035.30 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s revenue rose 24.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs26,518 crore during the December quarter over Rs21,343.60 crore for the same quarter last year.

Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel had entered into an agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to acquire the right to use spectrum in the 800-megahertz (MHz) band in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, and Mumbai circles through spectrum trading.