News
French telco’s Middle East and Africa presence back up to 20 markets as it closes acquisition of Bharti Airtel unit.
Orange on Wednesday added 4.6 million customers to its Middle East and Africa business with the completion of the acquisition of Airtel in Burkina Faso.
The France-based mobile group agreed to buy the operator from parent company Bharti Airtel in January as part of a deal that also included Airtel Sierra Leone.
It did not share the purchase price, but Haitong Research analysts put the value of the whole deal at around €652 million.
Having received all the required regulatory approvals, Orange has closed the deal, acquiring 100% of Airtel Burkina Faso via its Orange Côte d’Ivoire subsidiary.
Burkina Faso represents a new market for Orange, which is keen to build up its presence in the Middle East and Africa region.
"This new acquisition will further strengthen the group"s positions on the African continent," said Bruno Mettling, deputy CEO of the Orange group and chief executive of Orange MEA.
Orange’s new acquisition is the second largest mobile operator in Burkina Faso and has a strong position in the mobile financial services market, where it is already interoperable with Orange Money, the telco said.
The country is home to 18 million people and mobile penetration stands at 80%, it added.
Burkina Faso has become the 20th market in Orange’s MEA footprint. That accolade first went to Liberia in April, when Orange closed the purchase of Cellcom, but the subsequent divestment of its operations in Kenya took the telco back to 19.
