Vodafone’s African subsidiary will acquire a 5% stake from its parent company and 15% from the government of Kenya to consolidate a 55% holding
Vodafone Group’s African subsidiary, Vodacom Group, has agreed to acquire 20% of the issued share capital in Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest telco. Vodacom will acquire 15% from the government of Kenya for €1.36 billion (KES 204 billion) in cash and 5% from Vodafone for a cash consideration of €450 million (KES 68 billion).
Once the transaction is complete, Vodacom will own 55%, the Kenyan government will retain 20% and public investors the outstanding 25%. The deal will be consolidated by both Vodacom and Vodafone.
Transaction rationale
The rationale is that Vodafone and Vodacom will gain controlling ownership of one of Africa’s most successful telecoms and financial services businesses. It is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange with a market capitalisation of €7.7 billion.
Safaricom also owns a scaled tower and spectrum portfolio in Kenya, as well as M-PESA – the pioneering fintech business which processes more than 100 million transactions daily and has 38 million M-PESA customers in Kenya. In the six months to 30 September 2025, Safaricom’s service revenue in Kenya was up 9.3% over the corresponding period last year, underpinned by growth in M-PESA revenue of 14%.
Safaricom also has a majority shareholding in Safaricom Ethiopia which launched telco-agnostic financial services in the country a few days ago. Ethiopia is Africa’s fastest growing economy.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group’s CEO, said, “In line with our focus on growth, this is an opportunity to gain a controlling shareholding in a highly successful African business in an attractive market.
“We have enjoyed a successful partnership with Safaricom since 2000, including the co-development of M-Pesa, which has brought wide-ranging financial inclusion to millions of customers.”
