Now that Nashua Mobile has sold its Cell C customer base to Altech Autopage, it can move ahead with the next phase in the process of shutting up shop.
The sale, announced yesterday, paves the way for the company to lodge papers with the Competition Commission, which is the next stage in its process of closing down. Although the company has yet to officially define timelines, it could file papers in the next week.
Parent company Reunert's sale of the 65 000 Cell C subscriber base, for a maximum amount of R91.5 million, follows last month's news that the MTN and Vodacom bases were being sold back to the mobile duopoly.
Reunert will earn a total maximum amount of R3.17 billion, as MTN and Vodacom are paying R2.26 billion to buy back their subscribers. Reunert will use the entire amount to settle Nashua Mobile's liabilities, support Reunert's growth strategy, and then return the balance to shareholders, either through dividends, or share buybacks.
Altech Autopage, a subsidiary of listed Altron, will initially pay R45.75 million, with the rest to be paid in six months, depending on the actual performance of the subscribers in key measures such as churn, average revenue per user and bad debts, says Nashua Mobile in a statement.
Reunert's decision was driven by the fact that Nashua Mobile was operating in a saturated, highly-competitive market, and experiencing declining average revenue per user and lower revenue streams.
Altech Autopage, the only independent service provider left in the market, has been growing average revenue per user in its base, and is seeing churn rates at less than industry-acceptable levels.
It is not yet clear what will happen with Nashua Mobile's 601 staff, or its franchise outlets, which make up the bulk of its 94-store footprint.
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