Johannesburg - MTN and Vodacom are studying a purchase of a stake in Oi SA’s African businesses, according to four people familiar with the matter.
MTN and Vodacom are interested in acquiring a minority stake in Unitel, Angola’s largest wireless carrier, said three of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Unitel is part of Africatel Holdings, the holding company that Rio de Janeiro-based Oi put up for sale last month.
Oi owns 75 percent of Africatel, which is valued at about 5 billion reais (R23 billion), said one of the people.
A transaction isn’t imminent, said one of the people.
Oi shares gained as much as 22 percent, the biggest intraday jump since October 2008, and traded 18 percent higher at 1.36 reais as of 1:31 p.m. in Sao Paulo.
MTN stock was 1.4 percent higher at 244 rand at the close in Johannesburg, while Vodacom also gained 1.4 percent.
MTN and Vodacom, the largest wireless carriers in Africa, have been looking for acquisition opportunities in countries with low rates of wireless use, high economic output and large populations.
A sale of its African assets would give Oi proceeds it can use to explore the acquisition of a local rival as the carrier contends with a debt load of 46.2 billion reais.
Chris Maroleng, a spokesman for MTN, and Richard Boorman, a spokesman for Vodacom, declined to comment on Africatel and Unitel.
They said their companies, both based in Johannesburg, always look for investment opportunities.
An Oi press official declined to comment.
Portuguese Assets
Oi has been working on a sale of its stake in Africatel after acquiring it earlier this year as part of its merger with Portugal Telecom SGPS SA.
The Rio de Janeiro-based company’s shareholders are also in discussions to sell its Portuguese assets to billionaire Patrick Drahi’s Altice SA, other people familiar with the matter said this month.
Through Africatel, Oi co-owns Unitel along with shareholders such as Angolan state-owned oil company Sonangol and Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Those other shareholders were considered potential buyers of the Unitel stake, people familiar with the matter said in August.
Oi is in the midst of a dispute with the minority shareholder of Africatel, Samba Luxco, over whether the Portugal Telecom merger obligates Oi to acquire Samba Luxco’s stake. - Bloomberg News