By Loni Prinsloo and Eric Ombo.
Vodacom Group is in talks with Kenya about potentially acquiring part of the government’s stake in Safaricom Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
The Johannesburg-based company already owns 39.93% of East Africa’s largest listed company, and is considering increasing its stake in the business, although no final decisions have been made, according to one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous as the information is still private. A second person confirmed shareholding talks between the two.
Vodacom and Safaricom declined to comment. Kenyan National Treasury officials were not immediately available to comment.
Safaricom — Kenya’s biggest wireless carrier with close to two-thirds of the country’s subscribers — is valued at 1.19 trillion shillings (R157 billion).
For the Kenyan government, selling some of its stake in the profitable business will assist with its efforts to raise revenue as it pushes to address growing debt costs and budget deficits.
Vodacom previously increased its stake in Safaricom through an all-share deal with its UK parent Vodafone in 2017.
Vodacom and Safaricom want to further expand M-Pesa, already Africa’s largest and fastest-growing mobile money business.
In August, Kenya’s Treasury Secretary John Mbadi said the government was considering splitting Safaricom into three units, a process that would have reduced its 35% stake. Vodacom ruled out spinning off M-Pesa, TechCabal reported.
Shares in Safaricom, which also has operations in Ethiopia, have doubled in the past 12 months.
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