Essar buys into Warid Uganda and Congo

The Essar Group is to acquire a 51 per cent stake in the telecom operations of the Dhabi Group, an investment company led by Abu Dhabi’s royal family. Essar Group is reported to be paying around US$150 million for stakes in Warid Telecom Uganda and Warid Telecom Congo.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak al Nahyan, chairman of the Dhabi Group, and Prashant Ruia, group chief executive of Essar in Abu Dhabi in the middle of November. The enterprise valuation of the Uganda and Congo operations collectively is estimated at US$318 million. Essar already has a presence in Kenya’s telecom sector through its operation branded ‘Yu’, with the Indian operator looking to strengthen its foothold in the African market.

The Tata Group is another telco from India that is expanding its base in Africa, and already owns a 56 per cent stake in South Africa’s second fixed line operators Neotel.

Essar also holds a 33 per cent stake in India’s Vodafone Essar. MobileStore, Essar’s retail chain, has over 1,300 stores countrywide. The group owns Essar Telecom Infrastructure, one of the largest independent telecom tower infrastructure providers in India.

Warid Telecom also operates in Pakistan and Bangladesh, but these markets were not included in the deal with Essar.