London-based private investment equity firm Helios International is financially backing telecommunications holding company Afri Tel, in a bid to secure a 66.7% stake in fixed-line incumbent Ghana Telecom (GT).
The move is part of the joint venture partnership between Helios Investment Partners and Portugal Telecom (PT) to expand the latter`s telecommunication portfolio across the African continent. This is according to Babatunde Soyoye, CEO of Helios Investment Partners.
Afri Tel Holdings was set up in July this year by PT to consolidate its various telecommunication stakes within Africa. PT then sold 22% of the Afri Tel Holdings to Helios Investment for $171 million, in a bid to help expand PT`s "African telecommunications portfolio", explains Soyoye.
The stakes include Angola (Unitel and Multitel), Mozambique (Teledata), Cape Verde (CV Telecom), Namibia (MTC), Botswana (Mascom), Guinea-Bissau (Guinetel), Sao Tome and Principe (CST), says Soyoye.
The joint venture promised $450 million towards the growth and expansion of Afri Tel`s telecoms portfolio, he says.
Helios Investment Partners recently won the Venture Capital Deal of the year at the Africa Investor awards, for its innovative backing of the expansion of Afri Tel Holdings fixed-line and mobile operations across Africa thus far.
Soyoye says the private investment extends to securing the majority stake in GT, and Helios Investment Partners will invest 22% towards the final investment, if Afri Tel Holdings is a successful contender.
The holding company is up against Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) and France Telecom.
Zeinal Bava, COO of PT, recently stated that Africa is the company`s second biggest expansion priority after Brazil. The holding company is looking to secure telecommunication licences in SA, Nigeria, Congo, Tanzania and Kenya.
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