Johannesburg - A consortium led by Nkenke Kekana, a former Telkom group executive for regulatory and public policy, was bidding for a shareholding in Vodacom South Africa, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.
Vodacom SA, a subsidiary of Vodacom Group, is the country's biggest cellular company, followed by MTN and Cell C.
Business Report has learnt that Kekana's group was one of the three black-led companies, including Vodacom management and employees, that had been shortlisted to bid for the shareholding in the company.
Kekana denied that his consortium was bidding for a stake in Vodacom SA, but a source familiar with Vodacom's empowerment process confirmed that the consortium had made a presentation to the shareholders of Vodacom Group this week.
Telkom, the fixed-line operating company, owns 50 percent of Vodacom Group. The balance is owned by British cellphone group Vodafone (35 percent) and VenFin (15 percent), an investment holding company. Vodafone said last week that it had offered R16 billion for VenFin's shares in Vodacom.
A Vodafone spokesperson said the group was in discussions with "a number of interested parties, but we are not able to give any more details at this stage".
Telkom would not comment as it was in a closed period until it releases its financial results for the six months to September next week.
Kekana left Telkom in June to form an investment company with other industry players to take advantage of opportunities expected to arise from the opening up of the telecommunications industry to competition.
Telkom currently dominates the telecoms sector. Kekana said he would work with Mowana Investments, a company which is 70 percent owned by black investors.
Mowana directors include Kekana and Benjamin Mophatlane, the deputy chief executive of Business Connexion. Mowana owns a substantial portion of Business Connexion.
Kekana has experience in the telecoms industry, having worked as the chairman of parliament's communications portfolio committee.
Vodacom has previously said it was waiting for the completion of the information and communication technology charter and the black economic empowerment codes of good practice before it proceeded with an empowerment transaction.
Vodacom had initially planned to sell to a black investor 5 percent of the company, a shareholding it had thought would come from the shares previously owned by Hosken Consolidated Investments, which sold them to Vodafone and VenFin in 2002 for R1.5 billion.
Vodafone has always wanted to increase its stake in Vodacom to grow its foothold in the continent. The move would also allow Vodacom to piggyback on Vodafone's global buying power to purchase any kind of technology.
Responding to concerns by some industry players that its increased ownership of Vodacom might affect the independence of the company's management, a Vodafone spokesperson said the increased shareholding would not change the shareholders' plans for the company.