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France telecom and Kenyan state deal closed (Kenya)

  • December 23rd, 2007
  • 2:30 pm

The Kenyan State and France Telecom SA have closed the acquisition by a consortium led by France Telecom of a 51% stake in the incumbent operator Telkom Kenya for a consideration of $390 million, or about EUR270 million euros.

France Telecom has teamed up with Alcazar Capital Limited, whose funds decided to raise their stake in the consortium from 15%, as announced on November 16, to 21.5%, under the terms of the agreement between the parties.

Agility, one of the world’s leading logistics services providers with a strong presence in emerging markets, is a key investor in Alcazar’s funds.

   

 

 

 

Telkom Kenya applies for mobile licence (Kenya)

  • October 3rd, 2007
  • 12:50 pm

Fixed-line operator Telkom Kenya has applied for a mobile licence. A notice in the official Kenya Gazette from the Communications Commission of Kenya announced the application and set a deadline of 60 says for public comments, from 21 September, writes the East African Standard. Telkom Kenya already offers a fixed wireless service using CDMA technology. The incumbent would compete on the mobile market with Safaricom, Celtel and Econet, which has just received a licence and has yet to roll out services.

   

Telkom Kenya conference attracts 6 bidders(Kenya)

  • August 9th, 2007
  • 1:48 pm

A government conference in Nairobi on the planned privatisation of Telkom Kenya has attracted six potential bidders, according to local press reports. These include the Indian operators MTNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, as well as France Telecom, South Africa’s Telkom, BT and Kuwait’s Alkazar. The government is holding an informative conference on the privatisation process, with technical bids due late this autumn. The winner of the bidding for a 51 percent stake in Telkom will be announced in November. Telkom also announced that it has finalised plans for the third and final phase of its reorganisation, with another 4,400 staff to be laid off by September. CFO David Muriithi told the East African Standard that the company is also working to clear its balance sheet of debt before the privatisation, and is in talks on transferring some debt to the government along with its 60 percent stake in mobile operator Safaricom. The government is also open to issuing Telkom with the country’s fourth mobile licence, in order to sweeten the offer for potential bidders, reports Business Daily.

   

Telkom to gain mobile concession(Kenya)

  • August 8th, 2007
  • 3:06 pm

The Kenyan government has revealed that it will offer a mobile concession to sweeten the sale of a majority stake in fixed line operator Telkom Kenya. The licence offered to Telkom will be the country’s fourth national mobile concession; Safaricom and Celtel are currently the only active players, with the other licensee, Econet Wireless, still to resolve long-running ownership issues before it can launch a commercial service. Telkom must pay a licence fee of KES3.9 billion (USD55 million), equivalent to the fee paid by both Safaricom and Celtel. Six companies are vying for the 51% majority stake in Telkom: France Telecom, BT, Telkom South Africa, Tata/VSNL, Reliance and Alkazar. The licence is due to be issued by the end of November, reports Nairobi’s Business Daily.

   

 

Ex-workers try to block sale

  • April 24th, 2007
  • 12:46 pm

Telegeography writes…More than 5,000 former employees of Telkom Kenya are launching legal action aimed at halting the company’s part-privatisation. The ex-workers have been battling for some time to reclaim money they say has been owed to them since the state postal and telecoms corporation was broken up in 1999. They are now campaigning to have the sale of Telkom shares stopped until their own case is settled, The Nation reports. The Kenyan government is planning to offload 60% of its Telkom stake later this year.