Three companies including South Africa’s MTN, Vietnamese group Viettel and an unnamed UK operator are said to be interested in Orange’s 70% stake in Telkom Kenya.
The French incumbent informed the Kenyan government last month about talks with…
Three companies including South Africa’s MTN, Vietnamese group Viettel and an unnamed UK operator are said to be interested in Orange’s 70% stake in Telkom Kenya.
The French incumbent informed the Kenyan government last month about talks with potential buyers for its struggling local unit, according to local reports at the time.
Orange launched a strategic review of its Kenyan and Ugandan operators earlier this year. “One option would be to find new partners in [Kenya] to ensure that the necessary financial and operating resources are available,” a company spokesman said a few weeks ago. TelecomFinance was told separately by a company source that an exit rather than a partnership was also an option.
Kenyan newspaper The Standard reported in its weekend edition that Viettel was the first operator to express interest for Telkom Kenya. The Vietnamese company, which is already present in Mozambique and has a licence to operate in Cameroon, may however struggle to buy the Kenyan player without a local co-investor, a source was quoted as saying.
MTN declined to comment while Viettel was not immediately available.
As the smallest operator, with only a 7% market share as opposed to 66% for leading player Safaricom, Telkom has been struggling for years.
Another local player, Yu Mobile is currently being sold after facing similar financial difficulties.
