MTN South Africa has entered into an agreement with Afrihost, a South African ISP to aqcuire its majority shares in a move that will add scale to MTN South Africa’s online ICT service offering which is focused on the consumer and SME market.
The deal, subsject to regulatory approval will see MTN South Africa acquire a shareholding of 50% plus one share in Afrihost, a leading South African ISPand hosting firm focused on consumer and small and medium enterprise markets. the sum of the transaction has not been disclosed.
In an email to assure his customers, Gian Visser, Afrihost CEO said:“The way you deal with us stays the same. Our management team stays the same. The entire Afrihost team stays the same. Our passionate focus on service stays the same. Our brand stays the same. We keep working out of our own premises.”
Visser believes that joining MTN is the best thing Afrihost could do for its clients due to MTN South Africa’s support along the way.
Founded in 2000 by Brendan Armstrong, Angus MacRobert, Peter Meintjes, Frank Payne and Gian Visser and later joied by Geg Payne, Afrihost partnered with MTN in 2012 and have worked together ever since. In a statement, MTN South Africa expects to leverage off Afrihost’s strong customer service, value proposition and agility, thereby boosting MTN South Africa’s presence in the SME, Corporate/Consumer and Connected Home segments. MTN South Africa will also supply Afrihost with products for its customers among others.