Nippon Telegraph in £2bn swoop for Dimension Data
NIPPON Telegraph and Telephone Corp said it will buy South African IT firm Dimension Data for up to £2.12bn in a bid to expand into overseas markets, including in fast-growing Africa.
Japan’s top telecoms operator plans to launch a tender offer for all outstanding shares in Dimension Data.
The South African firm provides IT-related services in the United States, Europe and Asia.
NTT will finance the acquisition through a combination of its own cash and debt. The deal would mark the largest acquisition by far of a South African firm by a Japanese company, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Japanese companies have been slow to enter Africa, which offers huge potential growth in mobile telephony and information technology thanks to rising personal incomes, a growing middle class and improving infrastructure.
Asian rivals, meanwhile, have been aggressively establishing a presence.
Bharti Airtel last month completed a $9bn (£5.9bn) acquisition of mobile operations in 15 African countries from Kuwait’s Zain in a deal that made the Indian firm the world’s fifth-biggest cell phone company by subscribers.
Also last month, China Mobile chief executive Wang Jianzhou told Reuters that the world’s biggest mobile-phone carrier is looking for acquisitions in Africa.