Vodacom prevails in appeal to acquire South African fibre provider Maziv

Compass Lexecon advised Vodacom, South Africa’s largest mobile operator, in its appeal at the South African Competition Appeal Court to gain approval for its ZAR 14 billion acquisition of a 30% stake in Maziv, South Africa’s largest fibre provider. The deal had earlier been prohibited by the Competition Tribunal. The Appeal Court conditionally approved the deal, with revised commitments, in August 2025.

Situation

In November 2021, South African mobile telecommunications operator, Vodacom, announced a transaction by which it would acquire a 30% stake in Maziv, housing the fibre assets of Community Investments Ventures Holdings, including Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa. The deal was met with concerns by the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal and the Tribunal prohibited the deal in October 2024. The Minister of South Africa's Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (‘DTIC’) subsequently filed an appeal with the Competition Appeal Court with the merging parties intervening in support of the appeal.

Our role

Compass Lexecon supported counsel and the legal teams on the appeal at the Competition Appeal Court, as well as submitting expert reports and providing expert testimony for the earlier processes before the CompCom and Competition Tribunal of South Africa. Compass Lexecon provided analysis relating to market definition, the likely competitive effects of the transaction, and efficiencies.

Outcome

The Appeal Court approved the transaction, with revised conditions, in August 2025. The conditions include commitments for the accelerated deployment of fibre to low income communities.

The team

Compass Lexecon’s team was led by Paul Reynolds and included Lotta Väänänen, Gytautas Karklius, Kirsten Abeln, Chi Trieu, Eeva Hietamäki, Jussi Kerttula, Christian Muller, Finn Spratt, Joonas Roos, and Julie Klein.

Compass Lexecon worked closely with the excellent legal team from CDH including Andries Le Grange and Nelisiwe Khumalo and the advisors to the other merging party, DLA Piper (including Janine Simpson and Werner Rysbergen) and our colleagues from FTI led by Professor Nicola Theron.