State fully acquires Telkom Kenya in Sh6.09 billion deal
The Treasury has acquired a 60 percent stake in Telkom Kenya from UK-based private equity fund, Helios Investment Partners, for Sh6.09 billion, making the company fully State-owned.
Documents tabled in Parliament show the purchase was one of the strings of expenditures that the Treasury incurred without the approval of Parliament in the weeks to the inauguration of President William Ruto on September 13.
A top Treasury official reckons that the State exercised its pre-emptive rights after Helios notified the government of its intention to exit Telkom, after a failed merger with Airtel Kenya.
The merger would have created a stronger challenger for Safaricom.
Will we see a worthy competitor to Safaricom now that Telkom will have the State's backing? However, debates on whether this expenditure should be approved are still ongoing.
“This Article of the Constitution has been abused by the Treasury. What happens now is that the Treasury withdraws money to fund what is not budgeted and comes to Parliament to rubberstamp the expenditure?” Martin Masinde, the acting director of PBO, asked recently.-BD
https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/state-fully-acquires-telkom-kenya-sh6-09-billion-deal-3971980
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