NAIROBI: Safaricom said late Wednesday that Kenya is selling a 15% stake in the telecom operator to South Africa’s Vodacom in a deal worth about $1.6 billion, as the government seeks to raise cash by offloading some state assets.
Facing high public debt, limited room to raise taxes, and annual debt repayments that absorb 40% of government revenues, President William Ruto’s administration has increasingly turned to asset sales to bolster its finances.
Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest company by market capitalization, accounts for a lion’s share of daily trading volumes on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Vodacom, which already owns 39.9% of Safaricom through Vodafone Kenya, will pay 34 shillings per share, a 20% premium to the share’s closing price of 28.20 shillings on Wednesday.
The purchase will lift Vodacom’s stake to 55%, giving the South African group effective control of Safaricom, widely known for its M-Pesa mobile money service.
Vodacom does not intend to launch a takeover offer once the acquisition is completed, Safaricom said in a statement late on Wednesday, adding that it will apply to the market regulator for an exemption.
The Kenyan government, which currently holds 35% of Safaricom, will see its stake reduced to 20%.
Vodacom will also buy the rights to future dividends on the state’s remaining shares, paying the government an upfront 40.2 billion shillings, Safaricom said.
Safaricom is held by a range of offshore funds and investors including HSBC, Norges Bank and Mobius, according to LSEG-compiled data.
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