Vodacom doles out R3.4 billion ($224 million) to buy 26% stake owned by Mirambo Holdings in Vodacom Tanzania.
The South African-based mobile phone operator now owns 75% of Vodacom Tanzania.
Mirambo Holdings is the investment vehicle of Tanzanian business tycoon Rostam Aziz.
The Vodafone-owned group acquired 588 million shares in Vodacom Tanzania.
The transaction was effective on 27 September 2019, and purchase consideration to the value of $224 million (R 3 417 million) was paid in cash, Vodacom said on Monday.
Vodacom Tanzania controls 32% of the market share of the country’s 40 million mobile subscribers, ahead of Tigo Tanzania, a subsidiary of Sweden’s Millicom, and a local unit of India’s Bharti Airtel.
On 10 September 2019, Vodacom obtained a short term loan of $98 million from Vodafone for payment of a portion of the purchase consideration for the acquisition of additional shares in Vodacom Tanzania.
Tanzania customer registration
The Tanzania Telecommunication Authority (TCRA) directed biometric registration of customers using national identification cards to commence on 1 May 2019.
Vodacom Tanzania in alignment with the industry has continuously engaged with the TCRA to ensure compliance.
“The implementation of biometric registration will be challenging given the low penetration of national identification cards, the associated cost as well as the ambitious deadline of 31 December 2019 set by the regulator,” Vodacom explained.
“We are taking all the reasonable necessary measures to ensure compliance.”
IPO
In 2017, Vodacom completed the biggest IPO in the history of Tanzania with a large offer size of circa R2.9 billion (TZS 476 billion).
Tanzania’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) in 19 years closed at TZS 900, almost 6% higher than the TZS 850 listing price.
The IPO makes the Vodafone-owned Telco the first to comply with recent regulatory changes requiring all of Tanzania’s telecommunications companies to list at least 25% on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).
More than 40 000 Tanzanian investors participated in the IPO, along with all major pension funds, which ultimately invest on behalf of a large part of the Tanzanian population.
