Kenya’s telecom regulator has approved the sale of telecom brand Yumobile’s business to Safaricom and Airtel. Yumobile is owned by Essar Telecom.

Approving the proposed deal, the regulator has stated that Safaricom and Bharti Airtel will have to each pay $5.4 million as fee for Essar Telecom Kenya Limited’s licences apart from complying with few other regulatory norms for acquiring Yumobile.

Earlier, Safaricom, in which UK-based Vodafone owns a 40 per cent stake, and Bharti Airtel had jointly sought Kenyan telecom regulatory body’s approval for the deal.

Under the proposed deal, Safaricom would take over Yumobile’s base stations and associated infrastructure, while Airtel Networks Kenya, a unit of Bharti Airtel, would acquire the brand’s 2.7 million customers. The deal is being pegged at $100 million.