London, 13 Nov 2007
Mobile phone giant Vodafone Group, which is keen to raise its stake in South African joint venture Vodacom, said on Tuesday it expected a strategic review by partner Telkom to last another two months.
"At that stage, we will have more information on what is available at Vodacom," chief executive Arun Sarin told a conference call after the company reported strong half-year results.
"We have made our point of view clear, which is if a percentage of Vodacom is made available at a reasonable price, then we would be interested in that stake," he added.
Vodafone already owns 50% of Vodacom, but is expected by analysts to seek to raise that stake to up to 85%.
Sarin added that he expected part of Vodacom to be listed on the South African stock exchange.
"We would be interested in taking up our interest (raising our stake), whether that is 10% or 20% or whatever that number is. The gameplan would be that the remainder of the shares would be listed... which I think would be a good thing," he added.
Sarin declined to be drawn on how much of Vodacom, the largest mobile phone company in SA, is likely to be listed or sold under the government`s black economic empowerment project.
Analysts have said they expect at least 5% of Vodacom to be sold under the project, which is designed to ensure blacks are encouraged into the mainstream economy following their exclusion under white apartheid rule.
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