Broke Treasury eyes Sh244b boon as Safaricom sale deal concludes

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. Vodacom acquired 6,009,814,200 ordinary shares from the government.  [File, Standard]

The National Treasury will get a Sh244.2 billion cash injection after the sale of a 15 per cent stake in Safaricom to South Africa’s Vodacom Group, a transaction that hands the telecom giant’s majority control to foreign investors and ends an era of State dominance in it.

The deal, which became effective on June 30, saw Vodacom acquire 6,009,814,200 ordinary shares from the government through a block trade on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, increasing its effective stake in East Africa’s most profitable company to 55 per cent from 35 per cent.