The South African Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) has accused Rain of flouting companies regulations in announcing its plan to approach Telkom’s board about a merger of the two companies, saying it did so without permission.
In a strongly worded statement late on Thursday, the TRP chastised Rain for its press announcement about its plans to talk to Telkom’s board about a transaction.
“We wish to inform the market that the announcement was issued by Rain without the prior approval of the TRP as required in terms of regulation 117 of the companies regulations,” the regulator said.
“The announcement was issued notwithstanding the TRP’s instructions to Rain that no such announcement should be made without the prior approval of the TRP.
“Accordingly, the publication of the announcement by Rain is unlawful, and Rain has been instructed to retract the announcement. In the circumstances, all parties (shareholders) and the market are advised to disregard the announcement.”
Rain said, however, that its view is that a request to present to the Telkom board is not notifiable.
Techgh24 reported earlier that Rain was moving to scupper MTN Group’s talks to acquire Telkom by planning to table a proposal to Telkom’s board that it should instead merge with the wireless broadband provider.
In its statement, Rain said there was a strong case to be made for a Telkom/Rain combination as it would create a “5G powerhouse” in South Africa.
