Corporate News
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore. The firm is seeking court orders to stop Telkom Kenya from disposing of its assets. PHOTO | FILE
By OKUTTAH MARK, mokuttah@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Safaricom has moved to court to block sale of France Telecom’s 70 per cent shares in Telkom Kenya over unpaid Sh639 million.
- The firm says it will suffer irreparable loss and damages if the sale and takeover of France Telecoms’ stake in the Kenyan company is concluded before it is paid the amount.
- Safaricom is also seeking an interim injunction to stop Telkom Kenya from disposing of its assets, including land and telecommunication equipment.
Safaricom
is seeking a court injunction to block the sale of France Telecom’s 70
per cent stake in Telkom Kenya until it is paid a Sh639 million claim
against the telecommunications company.
Safaricom, through its advocate Kiptinness and Odhiambo
Associates, moved to court last Wednesday saying it will suffer
irreparable loss and damages if the sale and takeover of France
Telecoms’ stake in the Kenyan company is concluded before it is paid the
amount.
France Telecoms on November 9 announced that it had
signed a binding agreement with Helios Investment Partners to acquire
the entire 70 per cent stake it held in Telkom Kenya.
The announcement triggered a similar demand for
debt repayment from the industry regulator, the Communications Authority
of Kenya (CA).
The CA wants to be paid Sh1.5 billion, which it has
set as a pre-condition for approval of the transaction. Safaricom says
several attempts to recover the debt from Telkom Kenya have failed. The
court is set to give directions on the matter on Wednesday.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this
application an interim temporary injunction do issue restraining the
respondent (Telkom Kenya) whether by itself or by its employees,
servants or agents or any other howsoever from finalising the sale of
the shares of the respondent held by its parent company,” reads
Safaricom’s application to the court.
The Treasury owns the other 30 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya.
Safaricom is also seeking an interim injunction to
stop Telkom Kenya from disposing of its assets, including land and
telecommunication equipment.
It also wants the court to order Telkom Kenya to
either deposit Sh639 million in cash with the court or issue a bank
guarantee or insurance bond of an equivalent amount.
The transaction details between France Telecoms and
Helios are still under wraps. It is not yet clear who will cater for
the debts previously owed by Telkom Kenya.
The cash-strapped telco owns real estate valued at
Sh13 billion, according to a leaked report seen by the Business Daily
ahead of the sale.
Internet highway
It also owns a 23 per cent stake in TEAMs, a
5,000-kilometre undersea fibre optic cable that links Kenya to the
global Internet superhighway through Fujairah in the UAE.
The company also has a 10 per cent stake in LION2, a
2,700-kilometre undersea optic cable which connects Kenya to the global
network through Mayotte in Mauritius — and an eight per cent stake in
the East Africa Submarine System cable.
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