Vodafone offloads shares in Vodacom to major investors
Vodacom’s share price dropped 8% on Wednesday after its UK parent company Vodafone sold down shares in the JSE-listed mobile operator to meet a 20% minimum free-float requirement by the local bourse. Vodafone offloaded 90-million shares, representing 5.2% of Vodacom ordinary shares. This raised R14.85bn, reducing Vodafone’s interest to 64.5%, from 69.7% The shares were sold to institutional investors at R165 through an accelerated bookbuild and formed part of an earlier deal reached between the two companies. In May, Vodacom agreed to buy Vodafone’s 35% interest in Safaricom, which is Kenya’s largest mobile operator. The R35bn acquisition entailed issuing new shares to Vodafone, which then increased its shareholding in Vodacom, thus exceeding the 20% minimum free-float requirement in terms of the JSE rules. “The objective of the placing was to ensure that Vodacom meets the free-float requirement and to restore Vodafone’s shareholding in Vodacom to a percentage that is broadly simila...
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