Vodafone woos Vodacom as Oger Telecoms plays cupid
Valentine fever has gripped Vodafone, the British-based telecoms company, which is continuing its amorous pursuit of Vodacom. Playing cupid this week, according to Business Report, was Oger Telecoms, whose bid for a stake in Telkom, which is reluctantly hanging onto its 50 percent share of Vodacom, has opened the doors for Vodafone to continue wooing its dream partner.
The rocky marriage between Telkom and Vodacom is over except in the legal sense. And it is easy to see why Vodafone, with almost 108 million customers around the globe, is smitten by Vodacom.
Vodacom earned R7.6 billion, according to its results for the six months to September. It has 31.6 million customers – 23.3 million in South Africa – and is growing fast in Africa. One would imagine that Vodafone is keen to get into bed with Vodacom because of the growth potential for its own global footprint. Vodafone has almost 13 million customers in Britain but is big in Japan, China, the US and Europe.
Vodacom will give the company a chance to tap into new income streams offered by Africa as the cellphone explosion on the continent continues. In November Vodacom, led by group chief executive Alan Knott-Craig, announced it had 3.7 million customers in Tanzania, 3.2 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 332 000 in Lesotho and 1.1 million in Mozambique.
While not as big as MTN, Vodacom would give Vodafone something tangible to play with. In a nutshell, its growth in a market it has dominated for 14 years, and its passport to Africa, make it an attractive target for a Romeo that believes behind every successful firm is a cash cow named Juliet.
Telkom also wants a sweetheart that will help keep its fingers in the lucrative cellular pie. These high-powered liaisons could see Vodafone's acquisition of shares in Vodacom result in the firm listing on the JSE through a public offering reputedly worth R45 billion.
Ultimately, consumers will pay for these multibillion-rand liaisons, perhaps starting on Valentine's Day with data packages on offer for the frantic exchange of SMSes between cheapskates who don't do flowers or chocolates.
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