Dimension Data plc has made an open market offer to purchase 100% of AccessKenya’s issued share capital for Kshs 14.00 per share, an offer which amounts to Kshs 3.052 billion. AccessKenya currently has 218 million shares in issue. The closing price per share for AccessKenya as of Friday 3 May 2013 was Kshs 9.85. The company’s turnover in 2012 was KES1.9 billion with EBITDA of KES700 million. The deal will see AccessKenya shareholders receive their entitled final dividend of Kshs 0.30 per share proposed by the AccessKenya board in respect of the year ended 31 December 2012.
The AccessKenya Group was the first ICT company to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The company operates a 400 kilometre Carrier Ethernet Fibre Optic Network in both Nairobi and Mombasa connecting over 500 commercial buildings. It also operates two wireless networks which extend coverage to 10 other towns around Kenya. AccessKenya also has a high-end consumer base to which it provides IT services including IT support, offsite backup and Disaster Recovery, email and security services.
With the purchase, Dimension Data plc intends to merge its subsidiary Internet Solutions Kenya into Access Kenya. Internet Solutions focuses on a client base predominated by corporate and multinationals to which it provides managed network and cloud-based services. The company has a network presence in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.
