Business / Companies
Indian company eying a 51% stake in Zimbabwe's TelOne
19 Jul 2011 at 04:57hrs | Views
India's state-run MTNL is eying 51% stake in state-owned landline operator, TelOne, for an undisclosed sum. Financials Times reported that an MTNL executive directly aware of the development told them.
It ia alleged that the funds will be routed through its Mauritius arm, Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Ltd (MTML).
"The Zimbabwe government is keen to offload a 51% stake in TelOne, which is the country's sole state-owned landline operator. Since TelOne also has a GSM mobile permit, it fits well with our plans to enter the African cellular turf in the near future," a senior MTNL executive privy to the talks told ET.
TelOne was recently granted a GSM mobile permit and will be the fourth mobile operator in a market of some 4 million subscribers. Saddled with sizeable debt, TelOne is scouting for a strong overseas partner to enter the mobile turf.
This will be MTNL's second attempt to enter Africa - in 2006, the telco failed to bag a mobile licence in Kenya and a year later it lost out in its attempts to buy a controlling stake in Telkom Kenya.
Sanjay Garg, who heads MTNL's Mauritius subsidiary, confirmed the discussions with the Zimbabwe government but said any potential deal with the state-owned telco would only happen after MTNL's soon-to-be-launched GSM operation in Mauritius gains traction by the year-end. MTNL is slated to spend about $20 million for its 200,000 lines GSM launch.
It ia alleged that the funds will be routed through its Mauritius arm, Mahanagar Telephone Mauritius Ltd (MTML).
"The Zimbabwe government is keen to offload a 51% stake in TelOne, which is the country's sole state-owned landline operator. Since TelOne also has a GSM mobile permit, it fits well with our plans to enter the African cellular turf in the near future," a senior MTNL executive privy to the talks told ET.
TelOne was recently granted a GSM mobile permit and will be the fourth mobile operator in a market of some 4 million subscribers. Saddled with sizeable debt, TelOne is scouting for a strong overseas partner to enter the mobile turf.
This will be MTNL's second attempt to enter Africa - in 2006, the telco failed to bag a mobile licence in Kenya and a year later it lost out in its attempts to buy a controlling stake in Telkom Kenya.
Sanjay Garg, who heads MTNL's Mauritius subsidiary, confirmed the discussions with the Zimbabwe government but said any potential deal with the state-owned telco would only happen after MTNL's soon-to-be-launched GSM operation in Mauritius gains traction by the year-end. MTNL is slated to spend about $20 million for its 200,000 lines GSM launch.
Source - FT
