Business

Story by JOSEPH BONYO

Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph Friday sought to put to rest the controversy over the firm’s shareholding, insisting that it has only two shareholders: Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Kenya Limited.

Reacting to a report tabled in Parliament that recommended the suspension of the public sale of the firms’ shares, Mr Joseph said that the planned sale would not be affected by the Committee’s demands.

“Safaricom has only two shareholders. These are Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Kenya Limited. We do not know of any other shareholder. The plans for the Initial Public Offer (IPO) will not be affected.” According to the report, the ownership of a third shareholder with a five per cent stake in the firm should be disclosed before the IPO.

Safaricom is the most profitable company in Kenya, having realized a full-year pre-tax profit of Sh17 billion. The report recommends that international investigators be hired to find out how 10 per cent of Vodafone Plc shares were transferred to an offshore company, Mobitelea Ventures, registered at the island of Guernsey.

The firm has been reported to currently owns five per cent of Safaricom, having resold another five per cent to Vodafone.

Open to probe

“We are open to investigations. We welcome the investigators and will provide all the necessary information to them,” said Mr Joseph. The Government wants to sell 25 per cent of its 60 per cent ownership in Safaricom to the public in the IPO. The sale is expected to be the biggest in Kenya’s history.

So far it has attracted high profile investment banks, including Morgan Stanley & Company International, Goldman Sachs International and the Standard Bank Group Limited, among others, to offer professional advisory services.

Safaricom has put up a remarkable business portfolio. Its subscriber base has grown to about six million users, from three million in the last financial year.

Recently, it expanded its roaming network to include neighbouring countries of Uganda and Tanzania and repackaged its tariffs for subscribers.