Summary

2019 SA ICT Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) deal flow was defined by the acquisition of Vumatel at an estimated R8 billion. The top three deals by deal value were about the sale of telecoms and data centre infrastructure. Six of the eight infrastructure deals involved fibre network operators being acquired.2019 saw the end of the strong and aggressive M&A strategy used by Blue Label Telecoms, EOH and HeroTel. In 2019, Blue Label Telecoms and EOH sold assets to raise capital to offset long term debt, whereas HeroTel simply ran out of attractive assets to buy.In 2020, the M&A deals will be defined by companies seeking to add strategic assets to their existing portfolio. Potential deal flow includes the sale of Cell C, the likely sale of the tower portfolios of either MTN or Vodacom or both, and the ongoing select acquisition of fibre network operators and retail service providers by their larger competitors.

2019 M&A Deal Count

Over the past three years, the number of reported ICT M&A deals has dropped from 41 (2017) to 35 (2019). Deal classification system:

• Networks & Infrastructure category covers deals that involve the acquisition of companies who own network and/or infrastructure (e.g., data centres, fibre networks).
• Customers & Channels category covers the acquisition of companies that have large customer bases or channels and distribution assets.
• Capabilities & Skills category covers deals that typically involve IT Services.

This decline has resulted from the slowdown by companies which previously drove M&A activity.

• From 2016 to 2018, HeroTel was a major driver of M&A through its aggressive acquisition of regional wireless internet service providers (WISPs). In 2019, HeroTel only concluded one transaction. The large decline in network deals resulted from HeroTel’s winding down of its acquisition spree.
• After many years of driving M&A, EOH in 2018 began the process of selling subsidiaries and equity it held in companies. The selloff gained momentum in 2019.

Interestingly, six of the eight network infrastructure deals involved fibre network operators. There is no single large investor or network operator who has been buying up fibre network assets. Instead, the market has seen selective buying of fibre network assets.The higher volume, but generally lower priced deals, involving the buying of IT companies, continued in 2019. The number of reported deals has risen from 18 in 2017 to 22 in 2019. It is rare to see IT deals that surpass R1 billion in deal value. Thus, the R1 billion price tag paid by Vodacom Group for its 51% equity in IoT.NXT stands out. It is difficult to unpack this deal’s valuation drivers but it does seem that Vodacom Group may have paid a premium for the equity. There is still some hype around IoT which may have influenced the price tag.In terms of media deals, the purchase of media assets by Lebashe Investment Group from Tiso Blackstar Group for R800 million is another standout deal. There are very few media deals undertaken in South Africa. This is a reflection of the local media market concentration.

2019 Deals not Concluded

There were two deals that were not concluded: the sale of WebAfrica (an ISP) and Vox (a fibre network operator and a service provider).The asking price for WebAfrica was not met and thus the sale was aborted. The reported asking price was R300 million while bidders submitted bids in the R170 to R220 million range.A similar situation arose with Vox where it was reported that an equity sale was imminent, but no deal was concluded. Subsequently, a Vox shareholder, Investec, sold its shareholding to the existing shareholders and a new management shareholding scheme was put in place.

Towards the end of 2019, Telkom Group offered to buy Cell C, but the shareholders of Cell C rejected the Telkom approach. Had a deal been concluded, then this deal would have been the largest deal reported for the year.

2019 Top Three Deals

The top ten deals accounted for an estimated M&A transaction value of R18 billion, while the top three deals accounted for R16.6 billion. The top three deals in 2019 are:

1. The largest deal is estimated to have been the CIVH acquisition of Vumatel at an estimated value of R8 billion . We included both the first and second transactions in this estimate.
2. This was followed by Berkshire Partners estimated R5.6 billion purchase of 51% equity in Terraco from Permira. The estimated deal value is broadly based on limited information published about the deal.
3. The most surprising valuation is the R1.028 billion paid by Vodacom Group for 51% equity in a young four-year old IoT solutions company IoT.NXT. The surprise element is based on the fact that the value of projects undertaken by IoT.NXT to date does not support this valuation. The purchase price must have been based to a degree on anticipated future revenue flow, given IoT market expectations.

The unconfirmed sale of the Standard Bank data centre to Liquid Telecoms is a significant deal. However, there is no published information that indicates that this deal has been concluded.

2020 M&A Outlook

We expect to see the following deal flow in 2020:

• TowerCo deal with MTN/Vodacom towers: Both operator groups have disposed of tower portfolios in some of their other country markets of operations. SA remains a significant market where both operators own their towers. Over the years there have been rumours about the sale of the respective tower portfolios. We expect that an international towerco with a strong local BEE partner will likely acquire the tower portfolio of either MTN or Vodacom or both in SA.
• Fibre network operator M&A: There will be continued M&A activity with the smaller fibre network operators being purchased by the larger network operators. A likely M&A target remains Octotel, given its strong position in the Western Cape.
• IT Service Providers M&A: This will continue through 2020. The focus will see innovative and strong market position players being targeted in a M&A drive.
• CIVH acquisitions: CIVH has indicated interest in expanding their infrastructure business. This may lead to CIVH buying into a data centre business and/or into a wireless network operator.
• Blue Label Telecoms and EOH: Both companies will likely continue to seek to sell assets as they strive to raise capital to improve their balance sheet.

We will not see single companies drive aggressive M&A strategies. Rather the M&A deals will be defined by companies seeking to added strategic assets or skills to their existing portfolio.‍

Contact Andre Wills (andre@africaanalysis.co.za) for further information on this topic.