Reuters

Vodacom’s joint venture partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had filed court papers to block the cellular operator from selling its majority stake in the unit, a spokesman for Vodacom said on Friday.

Vodacom said last year it had appointed investment bank Rothschild to “explore options” for the business in the DRC, where it has been involved in a dispute with its partner, Congolese Wireless Network (CWN).

“Vodacom has received court papers from CWN,” Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman said. Boorman said that he was unable to comment further on the legal process.

MTN Group, Africa’s largest cellular operator, was in talks to buy Vodacom’s unit in the DRC, Bloomberg reported last week, citing two unidentified sources.

Vodacom and MTN officials did not comment.

CWN chairman Alieu Conteh said that CWN had filed the papers with the court after it said Vodacom had failed to share information with CWN about the proposed sale and ignored CWN’s request to exercise its right of first refusal.

“The whole process is not transparent,” he said. “We are not radicals. We will co-operate. We just want transparency,” said CWN.

Vodacom owns 51 percent of the unit, with the remainder held by CWN. The two companies have been in arbitration after disagreeing over fees from the joint venture.

Conteh said last year that Vodacom Congo was worth more than $1.5 billion (R12.1bn now), a valuation that Vodacom described as “ludicrous”.