Vodacom goes ahead with BEE plan

The South African cellular group Vodacom has confirmed the sale of a 6.25% stake worth ZAR7.5 billion (USD996 million) which is being carried out under Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) regulations. Investors include Royal Bafokeng Holdings, Thebe Investment Corp and Vodacom employees. Private investors from the black community will also be invited to buy shares. Once the deal is completed Royal Bafokeng will hold a 1.97% interest in Vodacom, while Thebe will hold 0.84% and employees and the public will own 3.44%. Vodacom is currently a 50:50 joint venture between Vodafone of the UK and Telkom South Africa. It had 24.8 million subscribers in its domestic market at the end of March.