Summary
Mobitelea Ventures is the name of a company that formerly owned 12.5% of Vodafone Kenya Ltd,[1] a 40% shareholder of Safaricom, a leading mobile network operator in Kenya.[2][3][4][5][6]
According to Vodafone, Mobitelea Ventures Limited was brought in as a partner to advise on local business processes and protocol.[7]
Documents obtained by The Guardian newspaper show that Mobitelea was registered in Guernsey on June 18, 1999. Mobitelea's owners are represented by two nominee firms, Guernsey – registered Mercator Nominees Ltd and Mercator Trustees Ltd. The directors are named as Anson Ltd and Cabot Ltd, based in Anguilla and Antigua.[7]
Vodafone brought back half of Mobitelea's stake at the beginning of 2003 [3][8] and, during the year ending 31 March 2009, Mobitelea sold their remaining indirect shareholding in Safaricom to the Vodafone Group.[9]
Today, the shareholder structure of Safaricom is: Government of Kenya 35%; Vodafone 40%; Free Float 25%.[10]
References edit
- ^ "Prospectus inviting applications for 25% of the issued ordinary shares of Safaricom Limited. p. 42". Government of Kenya. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ^ "Kenya watchdog probes Safaricom ownership". Reuters. 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ^ a b White, Dominic (2007-02-17). "Investigation into Vodafone's mystery partner in Kenya". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ^ Olunga, Vitalis O (2007). Responses Of Safaricom Limited to Changes in the Telecommunication Industry in Kenya (MBA thesis). University of Nairobi.
- ^ "Safaricom, Mobitelea Controversy" on YouTube
- ^ "Gaps exposed in Safaricom and Telkom sales" on YouTube
- ^ a b Rice, Xan (2007-02-16). "Kenyan Inquiry into Vodafone's Mystery Partner". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "Vodafone Reported to Have Bought Out Controversial Shareholder Cellular". Cellular News. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ^ "Vodafone Group PLC, Annual Report for the Year ended 31 March 2009. p. 98" (PDF). Vodafone. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
- ^ "Our Heritage". Safaricom Limited. Retrieved 2014-02-14.