Three companies, including Vietnam’s Viettel and Megatech Engineering of Nigeria, are reportedly conducting due diligence on Telkom Kenya in the hope to reach a deal by July.
French incumbent Orange launched a strategic review of its Kenyan and…
Three companies, including Vietnam’s Viettel and Megatech Engineering of Nigeria, are reportedly conducting due diligence on Telkom Kenya in the hope to reach a deal by July.
French incumbent Orange launched a strategic review of its Kenyan and Ugandan operators earlier this year.
It recently sold its 95% stake in the Ugandan unit to Africell for about US$10m, and reports suggest that the sale of its 70% interest in Telkom Kenya is near.
The Kenyan government owns the remaining 30%.
Besides Viettel and Megatech Engineering a third company, potentially a Nigerian telecoms operator, is also looking at Telkom Kenya, according to local newspaper Business Daily. Nigeria has four main mobile operators: MTN, Globalcom, Airtel and Etisalat.
Viettel was reportedly the first operator to express interest in 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 previously quoted as saying.
The companies could not be reached for immediate comment.
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 also currently being sold.
