Vodacom Fiber Deal in Doubt After Regulator Advises Against

A Vodacom Group Ltd. advertisement surrounds the top of the Ponte tower in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2018. 

Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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Vodacom Group Ltd.’s deal to buy a stake in Remgro Ltd.’s fiber businesses was plunged into jeopardy after South Africa’s antitrust regulator urged the country’s Competition Tribunal to block the acquisition.

The Competition Commission said Johannesburg-based Vodacom’s acquisition, valued at 13.2 billion rand ($696 million), “is likely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in several markets,” according to a statement Tuesday.