Orange, the French telecoms giant that has been making gradual tracks on local soil, is considering a separation of its African assets in an initial public offering (IPO).
According to a Bloomberg report, the IPO move is a bid to free up funds to strengthen the company's European business, which has seen price wars skimming revenues.
Citing "a spokesman for Orange" the report says, because considerations are still at an early stage, neither details nor timing have been decided. "The company may include its Middle East assets in the IPO."
Early days
Tom Wright, Paris-based corporate press officer at Orange, this morning confirmed the company was considering the move, but said a consideration was all it amounted to at this early stage.
"No decision has been taken regarding the exact details of any such project (including geographic scope) and no calendar has been defined. It would probably only concern the countries where [Orange] has mobile and fixed telecoms assets and networks with licences and a pool of employees."
SA, he says, is unlikely to be affected, as the company does not hold a licence here, but rather operates largely online.
Wright emphasised that, while the company is "thinking about it", this does not necessarily mean an IPO is in its future. "And an IPO does not mean we are pulling out of Africa or anything like that. I must stress that the group's development in Africa and the Middle East remains a key part of Orange's strategy."
Local foray
Orange entered SA on the consumer front at the beginning of last year, with the launch of Orange Horizons, a purpose-made subsidiary which the company said at the time was created "to seek out new business opportunities in countries where the group is not already present as a mass-market telecommunications provider".
While Orange has a presence in 20 countries in the Middle East and Africa (excluding SA, where it does not hold a telecoms licence), Orange Horizons MD S'ebastien Crozier has indicated the company sees SA as one of the company's key markets.
Although it still has a limited presence locally, through its online store and a few retail hubs in Nashua Mobile stores - a partnership that could come to an end with the mobile services company's closure - Crozier has indicated it intends to grow its presence, slowly but surely.
Ideally, the company would like to launch as a mobile virtual network operator in SA - but has cited regulatory hurdles and a lack of competition in the market as major barriers to entry.
In April, Orange opened a local warehouse, in Johannesburg's Sunninghill suburb, to support the sales of products from its online store.
Orange Horizons has also made some WiFi inroads - a service it plans to grow - and recently made known its intention to further its retail presence, possibly by opening its own Orange-branded flagship stores, and partnering with existing retailers.
Crozier said previously that Orange would focus on WiFi services and on eventually becoming an Internet service provider in SA.
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