The tribunal's green light comes a month after the Competition Commission said the deal was unlikely to lessen or prevent competition substantially in any market. Still, the commission recommended that "public interest concerns" be addressed.
"The merging parties have made procurement commitments to firms that are either small/medium enterprises or that are owned by historically disadvantaged persons for a period of five years from the [transaction's] implementation date," the commission said.
Telkom shareholders, including the government of South Africa, which owns 40.5% of Telkom, in May voted in favour of selling the Swiftnet business to the consortium made up of Actis and Royal Bafokeng Holdings , a community-owned investment holding company, in a deal that gave Swiftnet an enterprise value of R6.75-billion.
Actis and Royal Bafokeng formed a new entity, called Towerco Bidco, to acquire the stake. The former owns 70% of this entity, with the latter holding the remaining 30%.
