The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) could be looking to offload part of its 15% stake in Vodacom to a BEE investor.
PIC CEO Dan Matjila confirmed with ITWeb via e-mail that the PIC "has been approached by various BEE consortiums to buy a portion of its Vodacom shares".
The PIC, which manages the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), agreed to acquire government's 13.91% interest in the company in the first quarter of 2015. The first tranche of the transaction was concluded in July 2015, and in December, the PIC announced it had concluded the acquisition. The PIC now owns over 15% of Vodacom.
The government stake was said to be worth over R28 billion, and the sale was prompted by government's need to help finance a R23 billion bailout allocation for struggling power utility Eskom.
"The discussions are ongoing. For this reason, the PIC is unable to disclose further details, considering that Vodacom is a listed company," says Matjila about the possible sale of the shares.
He told Bloomberg the corporation would be happy if the shares are in the hands of black investors. "It will enhance the transformation profile of Vodacom," Matjila was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that a BEE consortium, headed up by Romeo Kumalo, was now eyeing the PIC's Vodacom stake. Kumalo was previously the COO of Vodacom's international business.
Last year, the PIC said its increased investment in Vodacom would assist it with portfolio diversification and risk mitigation.
"We are proud to have acquired these shares on behalf of the GEPF and believe that more benefit will be derived from this investment. Vodacom is a well-managed blue-chip South African company with credible exposure in the rest of Africa and strongly underpinned by its corporate governance practices," Matjila said at the time of the acquisition announcement.
Vodacom's share price has risen almost 18% in the past year, and this morning was trading at around R166 per share. The telco's market cap is worth over R247 billion.
The PIC is a public asset management firm wholly owned by the South African government. The PIC's clients are mostly public sector entities, including the GEPF, which contributes 90% of the funds that PIC manages.
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