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Mandiwanzira confirms Government's plans of buying Telecel Zimbabwe
16 Jul 2015 at 06:38hrs | Views
ICT, Postal and Courier Services minister Supa Mandiwanzira has confirmed Government's plans of buying Telecel Zimbabwe, saying the mobile operator's shareholders have offered to sell their stake.
Mandiwanzira told Parliament on Wednesday that discussions were currently underway between Zarnet and Telecel shareholders.
"Recognising it [government] did not have immediate capacity to do the transaction, it has chosen one of the entities it owns to pursue the transaction in a commercial way," Mandiwanzira said.
Telecel is owned 60% by Amsterdam-headquartered VimpleCom and the remainder is held by Empowerment Corporation (EC).
Mandiwanzira had been asked by legislators to confirm whether government intended to buy Telecel.
There is an option of merging it with State-owned mobile operator NetOne and create the critical mass that would be able to compete with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. Another option would be to sell the shareholding to another company.
Mandiwanzira told Parliament on Wednesday that discussions were currently underway between Zarnet and Telecel shareholders.
"Recognising it [government] did not have immediate capacity to do the transaction, it has chosen one of the entities it owns to pursue the transaction in a commercial way," Mandiwanzira said.
Mandiwanzira had been asked by legislators to confirm whether government intended to buy Telecel.
There is an option of merging it with State-owned mobile operator NetOne and create the critical mass that would be able to compete with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. Another option would be to sell the shareholding to another company.
Source - NewsDay
