It has been reported that the merger of Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya will face a delay of up to 4 months awaiting the tribunal’s verdict on their protest against the conditions placed on their proposed tie-up. Back in January 10, they filed an application with the Competition Tribunal to ignore most of the post-merger conditions set by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK).
The assessment of their appeal could postpone the agreement to May, according to the timeframe set by law. According to the Competition Act 2010, the Competition Tribunal shall receive applications for review of CAK’s decisions and make a decision within four months: it can either overturn CAK’s conditions, amend them, uphold them, or even refer the matter back to the regulator for reconsideration on specified terms.
The tribunal has started the review by inviting concerned parties to start making comments on the Airtel and Telkom appeal. Among other things, they seek eliminating a condition barring them from selling any stake in the merged entity within the first five years.