On Wednesday, the Bloomberg news agency quoted well-informed sources as saying that the Emirati Etisalat Group is exploring a possible investment in Vodafone’s African operations.
The company is studying an offer to buy all or part of Vodafone’s stake in Vodacom Group Limited, listed in Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as the possibility of merging some of its African businesses with Vodacom or buying its own assets in certain countries, and cooperation may take other forms, according to agency sources.
Vodafone owns about 60% of Vodacom.
Etisalat became Vodafone’s largest shareholder earlier this year and is keen to cement its status as Vodafone’s largest shareholder as it plans to expand its business in Africa, according to sources.
An Etisalat spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg, that the group was searching the market for opportunities in line with its strategy to achieve growth by relying in part on acquisitions, however, “no such projects are currently underway”.
On Wednesday, Etisalat Group announced an increase of its stake in British Vodafone Group to 11% from around 10% previously, thus remaining Vodafone’s largest shareholder, according to Reuters.
(Prepared by: Shaima Hefzy, Edited by: Maryam Abdel-Ghani, contact [email protected])
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