Visafone Acquires Multilinks Telecom

Visafone, Africa’s largest CDMA mobile operator, has further strengthened its market position by acquiring Multi-links Communications Limited’s CDMA mobile assets.

Visafone is paying $52 million for the acquisition, which moves its subscriber base up to 4.2 million. Multi-links is arguably the oldest mobile phone company in Nigeria, having been in the market for over 15 years. The combined entity of Visafone and Multi-links creates a total active subscriber base of 4.2 million, which cuts across 90 percent of Nigeria’s land mass.

At a signing ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the weekend, Jim Ovia, chairman of Visafone, said: “Visafone recognises that this deal will solidify its position in the Nigerian marketplace and is committed to offering world-class voice and data solutions to existing Multilinks customers.  This transaction brings us closer to achieving our target of 10 million subscribers within three years.

“We believe that the superior technology offered by CDMA, combined with a subscriber base of 4.2 million active subscribers will enable Visafone to continue as a game-changing innovator in the Nigerian marketplace. Multilinks customers will be afforded the same high quality of network and customer service as existing Visafone subscribers enjoy.”