Vodacom group CEO Alan Knott-Craig has called on equal shareholders Telkom and Vodafone to change the ownership structure of the local operator.
Knott-Craig was speaking to analysts this morning at the presentation of the company's annual results to 31 March.
"We are being severely limited in our expansion designs. In the local market, acquisitions are hit down by the competition authorities due to our size and our connection to Telkom. Moving out into Africa, we are competing against our other shareholder [Vodafone], which has its own Africa intentions," he said.
The result is that the local operator has few expansion opportunities to pursue, he noted.
"I don't know who is benefiting from this situation. We are losing out, Telkom is losing out and Vodafone is losing out. It's not that we don't get along, we do. But it's time to shake up this shareholding thing a little bit and unlock value for those involved," commented Knott-Craig.
Vodacom's shareholders are currently in discussions, the companies last week confirmed. Through these discussions, Vodafone hopes to increase its stake in Vodacom by 12.5%. This would give the company a controlling shareholding.
Knott-Craig concluded: "We can try and play shareholders off against each other, but that's not good for any of the shareholders. The fact is we are in a deadlock. Looking at this company structure, it's time for a change."
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