BitCo sold

Link Africa has acquired BitCo Telecoms for an undisclosed sum.

This comes after industry rumours that BitCo had run into financial trouble and was seeking a buyer.

Link Africa has denied this speculation, saying that BitCo is not in any financial distress.

“The acquisition will enable Link Africa to expand its product portfolio, customer base, and network coverage across the country,” the company said in a statement earlier this month.

While both companies offer residential and business fibre services, Link Africa said its focus has been on underserved and remote areas.

“BitCo Telecoms, on the other hand, has a strong presence in the business and enterprise sectors,” it said.

BitCo offers a range of services such as fixed line, voice solutions, and cloud services, and Link Africa said it has a loyal and diverse customer base, ranging from SMEs to large enterprises.

“BitCo Telecoms also provides cloud security and SDWAN solutions, as well as a robust network core,” said Link Africa.

It said the acquisition would combine both companies’ complementary strengths and capabilities, creating a stronger and more diversified telecommunications provider.

BitCo CEO Jarryd Chatz is departing the company following the acquisition.

“It has truly been an incredible journey building and expanding BitCo Telecoms over the past decade,” he said.

“These two companies will undoubtedly spur each other on to greater heights of excellence.”

BitCo was founded by Garth van Sittert in 2005, when Telkom still held a government-sanctioned monopoly over fixed-line telecommunications in South Africa.

BitCo stood ready to take advantage of South Africa’s hard-won telecommunications freedom as the market became more liberalised.

When the industry took the late former communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to court and won, a world of new opportunities opened up for the company.

It became a wireless Internet service provider (Wisp), building its own Wi-Fi-based last-mile wireless network that helped provide an alternative to Telkom DSL.

BitCo also rolled out its own Metro Ethernet network in South Africa’s major cities.

When Vumatel broke open the residential fibre market in 2014, BitCo was also rolling out infrastructure — including upmarket residential estates.

In June of that year, it announced that Chatz Connect had bought a 50% stake in BitCo.

Jarryd Chatz joined BitCo as Business Development Director. He took over as CEO when Van Sittert stepped down in 2016.

“I extend a heartfelt thank you to the remarkable BitCo team; your collective efforts have been nothing short of phenomenal,” Chatz said.

“I couldn’t have achieved this without each and every one of you. While bidding farewell fills me with sadness, I am eagerly anticipating the continued growth and success of both BitCo and Link Africa in the competitive telecom arena.”