UK-based Vodafone Group PLC has proposed a transfer of 35 percent of its indirect shares in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom Group Ltd.
Please note that Vodafone Group PLC owns 65 percent of Vodacom, a little confusing but try to catch on.
Initially, Vodafone Group PLC held 39.9 percent stake in Safaricom Limited. It is said that Vodafone Group PLC will sell 35 percent of its shares to Vodacom reducing Vodafone Group’s shares in Safaricom to 4.9 percent.
In other words, Vodacom now has 35 percent stake in Safaricom, Vodafone Group PLC has 4.9 percent, the Kenyan Government has 35 percent stake.
According to a statement released by Vodacom, the company will pay the equivalent of 34.6 billion rand ($2.6 billion) to its parent company Vodafone Group PLC for the stake.
In a press statement, Safaricom announced that as part of the transaction, Vodafone Group has given assurances to the Government of Kenya to ensure the ongoing success of the long-standing partnership between Safaricom, Vodafone Group and the Government of Kenya.
Bob Collymore, Safaricom’s CEO said, “The agreement Vodafone Group has reached with the Government of Kenya will ensure Safaricom continues to have strong Kenyan representation at Board and management levels, and promotes the continued successful expansion of the company as well as the opportunity to drive M-PESA to other markets in the continent.”
The press release goes ahead to clarify that the completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including approvals from Vodacom minority shareholders and confirmation from the Kenya Capital Markets Authority that the Transaction does not trigger an obligation for Vodacom to make a mandatory bid for Safaricom.
Safaricom announced its full year financials for 2017 just the other day and the company reported a revenue of Ksh.212.9 billion up from Ksh.195.7 billion in 2016. Net profit rose by 18.3% to hit Ksh.45.1 billion up from Ksh38.1 billion last year, thanks to M-Pesa and Mobile data usage.
