Kenya’s finance minister Henry Rotich has indicated that Orange Group is in the final round of talks to sell its 70% stake in Telkom Kenya, the country’s incumbent fixed and mobile operator, Reuters reports. Previously, in November last year, an attempt by the French company to sell its majority shareholding in Telkom Kenya to Vietnamese telecoms firm Viettel fell through. Viettel reportedly pulled out of the deal after the Kenyan government – which owns the remaining 30% of Telkom – rejected a number of its conditions for the deal. Rotich said that Orange Group are now in ‘final negotiations’ with an unnamed buyer, adding that he expected the transaction to be completed ‘very soon’, possibly before the end of the year. Earlier this month, local press sources reported that African private equity firm Helios Investment Partners was considering the purchase of Orange’s controlling stake in the telco.
Kenya,Telkom Kenya (Orange Kenya), Corporate/Financial, Mergers/Acquisitions
02 Oct 2015
