Shakeman Mugari
17 August 2007
THE scramble for Telecel Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd has intensified with information this week that some local business people have joined the race to takeover the mobile network company.
The rush for a stake followed last week's decision by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (Potraz) to cancel Telecel's operating licence for failing to restructure its shareholding in line with the regulations.
Telecel has since managed to get an interdict from the High Court blocking the cancellation. They have also appealed to the Minister of Transport and Communications, Christopher Mushowe.
Telecel International holds 60% in Telecel Zimbabwe while Empowerment Corporations (EC), a local consortium, owns 40%.
Government wants EC to buy 11% back from Telecel International to become the majority shareholders in the company. Businessdigest is aware that a consortium called Konfluens has since approached government with a proposal to buy 60% of Telecel Zimbabwe.
A written proposal has been submitted to the Mushowe, and meetings have been held with Minister of Indigenisation and Empowerment, Paul Mangwana.
In their letter to the Mushowe dated August 3, Konfluens said they have already raised the foreign currency to buy the stake.
"Konfluens, a Zimbabwe controlled private equity consortium with business interests in the UK, Malawi, South Africa and recently Angola, hereby advise you that we are pursuing the available shareholding with Telecel International beyond the 11% threshold, but for the entire 60%," said the letter in possession of businessdigest.
"The requisite foreign funding is now in place through our international structures and, we have also prepared technical (China) and additional funds for the rehabilitation of the Telecel Zimbabwe's infrastructure."
"We sincerely hope that you will assist us in the guidance relating to Empowerment Corporation, Telecel International, the ministry and other relevant parties for this initiative to be concluded at the earliest date," the letter said. Sources said Konfluens met Mangwana last month to seek his support for the deal.
"Mangwana told Konfluens that this was a business transaction concerning shareholders. He said as long as it was in line with the regulations then they could go ahead," said a source close to the issue.
Konfluens chairman, Parkvoo Mutendera, yesterday confirmed that the consortium has been pushing for a stake in Telecel. He confirmed having written a proposal to Mushowe.
"It's true we are interested in the stake. We have talked with the minister Mangwana and written to minister Mushowe," said Mutendera who is also the managing director of Columbus Communications.
Mutendera said the consortium was still to get a response from the Mushowe. He said they have also been in contact with Telecel International.
"We have had contact with the guys in Egypt (Telecel International) through our representative. From the look of things, they are not really hostile to the idea," Mutendera said. Konfluens' is likely to clash with other interested people like Leo Mugabe who has been fighting for a stake in Telecel for the past three years.
EC is also likely to block the deal because they have the pre-emptive rights to the shares.
Mugabe, who claims to have a stake in EC, has already approached Telecel International with proposal to buy 11% in Telecel.
In August last year Mugabe wrote to the Telecel International claiming that he had been allowed by EC, who have the pre-emptive rights, to buy the 11%.
His bid collapsed when Telecel International told him his offer price of US$3,5 million represented a "gross under valuation" of the stake. Telecel International also told Mugabe that they doubted his claims that he had been granted the permission by EC to buy the shares.
Locally, Mugabe has also been pushing for a stake in EC. EC members have however blocked his bid saying he has no right to the shares because he was never a member of the empowerment group in the first place.
They said Mugabe was given a chance to invest in EC in 1999 but failed to pay the membership fees.
Businessdigest is in possession of a document which shows that Mugabe's cheque of $140 000 for joining fees was rejected by the CBZ Bank.
Mugabe has however insisted that he has shares in the company. Last September, Mugabe told EC members that he had "presidential directive" to reorganise the shareholding structure of the company.
This also failed when he failed to produce a copy of the "presidential directive". Officials close to the issue said Mugabe has since renewed his bid to takeover a stake in the company.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Zimbabwe Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
