New Telkom boss kicks off major changes in management

Aldo Mareuse

Frenchman Aldo Mareuse has collapsed the management of Telkom Kenya, which he joined on Monday as chief executive after the acquisition by UK fund Helios Investment Partners.

The firm has shrunk the business by more than half to four divisions that now include real estate, whose collective worth is estimated at about Sh10 billion.

New executives have also been appointed to fill the positions of the respective heads of department, which saw the return of John Barorot as chief technical and information officer.

“This is a company with great assets that will deliver value,” said Mareuse, who was recruited by Helios Investment Partners to manage Telkom Kenya. The three other business lines are mobile, fixed lines and wholesale departments in a restructuring anticipated to reduce the replication of roles and ease reporting and oversight.

Previously, real estate was not a department by itself even though the firm owns several buildings and prime land. Mareuse was however tight-lipped on his strategy in helping Helios in its first major investment in the telecoms business in Kenya that is led by mobile service provider Safaricom. “The new structure will ensure each of the heads is responsible for the independent business line,” said the new CEO.

Amer Atwi, a former managing director of a Gambian mobile telecoms operator, is the second most influential executive in Telkom Kenya, where he will head the mobile business division.

Helios completed the acquisition of the 70 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya last Friday after months of negotiations, ending with the retention of former KenGen boss Eddy Njoroge as chairman.

The transaction value is still undisclosed, with Mareuse insisting the matter was a highly guarded secret between the buyer and the seller. Soon after Helios took up the controlling stake, it ceded 10 per cent stake to the Government of Kenya at the symbolic consideration of Sh1.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the debt is owed by Telkom Kenya, and it would be paid when the business starts generating profits.
It therefore is not clear why Helios would have reached the decision to cede such a significant stake for free, essentially, unless for having a closer working relationship with the Government – the biggest consumer of goods and services from the private sector.