By John Bowker
(Bloomberg) — Vodacom Group Ltd., the South African unit of Vodafone Group Plc, said it started talks with Neotel Pty Ltd. about revising the structure of a proposed 7 billion-rand ($499 million) takeover of the Internet provider and asked for a Competition Tribunal hearing into the deal to be postponed.
“The outcome of these discussions will directly impact the extent of the approval being sought from the Competition Tribunal and the scope” of the hearing, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement. The review was scheduled to start in Pretoria on Monday.
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Vodacom was granted provisional approval by South Africa’s antitrust and communications regulators earlier this year to buy Neotel, expanding its Internet offering. Conditions included the extension of broadband to rural areas and a pledge not to cut Neotel jobs. The deal has been opposed by competitors including MTN Group Ltd., which said the acquisition would give Vodacom dominance of South Africa’s high-speed Internet market.
