Vodacom's broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) deal, to allow 5.5% of its shareholding to go to previously-disadvantaged groups, is being held back by the slow finalisation of the ICT charter, a source says.
The deal was originally mooted when UK-based Vodafone bought VenFin two years ago. This gave Vodafone the 15% shareholding that left the country's largest cellular operator with a shareholding split equally between Vodafone and Telkom. The deal was originally worth about R20 billion.
The source says the ICT charter is likely to only go to communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri later this month, or in July and, therefore, it is unlikely any announcement concerning the deal will be made soon.
Vodacom spokesperson Dot Field said today she is unaware of any announcement concerning a BEE transaction being scheduled for 13 June, when Vodacom and Telkom announce their annual results.
"We are not planning any surprise announcement on 13 June," Field says.
Long process
The ICT charter has undergone a stop-start process for the past five years. It has had to bring itself into line with the BEE scorecard system outlined by the Department of Trade and Industry regulations, causing a delay in getting the sector charter finalised.
"The problem with the Vodacom deal is that the value of R7.5 billion is too big for many BEE organisations to digest, so the scorecard system here has to be brought in. The Department [of Communications] has acknowledged that Vodacom's intentions are good," the source says.
Field confirms that of the R7.5 billion stake earmarked for the deal, about R1.8 billion equity would be for a staff-empowerment scheme.
A number of consortiums are reportedly vying for the Vodacom stake. These include Ehlobo Holdings, headed by former Department of Trade and Industry director-general Alistair Ruiters, and a group headed by Nat Nkenke, a former Telkom executive for regulatory affairs and former chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications.
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