Vodacom has finalised a deal worth R17,5 billion, which will increase its BEE ownership to 20 percent.
JSE-listed telecoms company Vodacom Group has announced a BEE deal with Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), Thebe Investment Corporation and YeboYethu, its existing BEE shareholder, worth R17.5 billion, and which will take the group’s BEE ownership to 20 percent.
Vodacoms says this transaction will be the largest-ever B-BBEE transaction in the sector, and will replace and build on the R7.5 billion Vodacom South Africa BEE ownership scheme that was concluded in 2008 and anticipated to unwind on October 8 2018, 10 years after its implementation.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO, said in a statement:
“It was crucial for us to retain our empowerment shareholding but at the same time go one step further… Our intention was always to move our BEE investors from being shareholders in Vodacom South Africa to a shareholding at the group level, thereby giving them exposure to the broader local and international markets in which Vodacom Group trades.”
According to Vodacom, the transaction will be funded through a combination of third-party and vendor financing, reinvested equity of R4.5 billion from the existing BEE partners, and facilitation from Vodacom Group.
