Vodacom Tanzania sells Helios Towers stake for $58.5 mln

Vodacom Tanzania Plc, majority owned by South Africa’s Vodacom Group, has sold its stake in a local unit of Helios Towers Africa for $58.5 million.

It sold its 24.06 percent stake in Helios Towers Tanzania Ltd to that company’s parent company, HTA Holdings, it said in a statement seen by Reuters.

Vodacom Tanzania, which is listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), said the transaction would result in an estimated profit before tax of more than 120 billion shillings ($53.57 million).

“Cash generated from this transaction further enhances our balance sheet and strategic options,” Managing Director Ian Ferrao said.

Tanzania’s telecoms and fair competition regulators have approved the deal, Ferrao said.

Vodacom Tanzania sold 25 percent of its shares on the DSE in August in line with the government’s mandatory listing rules for telecoms companies, raising around $213 million.

International investors bought 40 percent of the shares in the initial public offering which was fully subscribed.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Tanzania rose 0.9 percent last year to 40.17 million, driven by the launch of cheaper mobile phones. Source: Share Net