Kenya regulator authorises take-over of Essar’s Yu

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) finally approved a bid by Safaricom and Airtel to acquire the assets and subscribers of Yu, the country’s third-largest mobile operator, which is owned by Essar Telecom.

The approval comes a month after Yu’s two bigger rivals submitted their application to CAK.

Safaricom expressed an interest in buying Essar Telecom’s passive infrastructure (located on 453 sites), while Airtel had its eye on Yu’s GSM licences and subscribers.

However, the industry regulator attached strict conditions on all three companies before the deal can go ahead.

According to allAfrica.com, conditions include the payment of Essar Telecom’s outstanding licence fees. That means both Safaricom and Airtel will each have to pay US$5.4 million.

Yu’s SIM cardholders must also be able to retain their numbers and related contracts during the transition period.

CAK has provided a six-month transition period to allow for the “seamless transfer”.

According to estimates from GSMA Intelligence, Yu had 2.8 million connections at the end of 2013, well behind market-leader Safaricom (20.1 million). Airtel had 5.7 million connections, while Orange (Telkom Kenya), in fourth place, counted 2.3 million.