
Johannesburg headquartered IT services company Dimension Data has set in motion a move to acquire Kenyan internet services firm AccessKenya.
Reuters reports that Dimension Data has made a Ksh3 billion (R326.4 million) offer to acquire Accesskenya.
Dimension Data has said that to buy the firm it is offering Ksh14.00 (R1.50) per share, a premium of 42%.
AccessKenya has been in operation for almost two decades.
In 1995, brothers David and Jonathan Somen formed a business in Kenya called ‘Communication Solutions Limited’ to provide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services to corporate clients within the country.
In 2000, the company changed its name to "AccessKenya" and in 2007 AccessKenya became one of Kenya’s first publicly listed ICT companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange(NSE).
AccessKenya employs over 270 people in cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa.
The Kenyan internet services firm has also produced healthy financial results. For the financial year ended 31 December 2012, AccessKenya reported a profit after tax of Ksh151,4m up from Ksh109,1m in 2011.
Moreover, AccessKenya's positive financial results have futher come about in an internet market in Kenya that has experienced strong growth.
According to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), Internet user numbers in Kenya grew 11.6% between October and December 2012 to reach 16.2 million, outpacing mobile voice users growth of just 1% in the country in the same period. The total number of mobile subscribers in Kenya stands at 30.7 million as at December 2012, according to the CCK.
But AccessKenya's potential buyout deal with Dimension Data has to be approved by shareholders and undergo regulatory approvals in Kenya.
AccessKenya says on its website, “The directors of the company, in the interest of the shareholders of the company, have requested the capital markets authority to immediately suspend the trading of the company’s shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange until such time as the offer is either successful, withdrawn or rejected by the requisite number of the company’s shareholders.”
Dimension Data has operations in 51 countries across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia and the Americas.
In October 2010, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), one of the largest global telecommunications service providers, acquired 100% of Dimension Data for GBP 2.1 billion, making Dimension Data a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NTT Group.
Share