Essar Group has purchased a direct 80% stake in the mobile operator Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK) after buying out Econet Wireless Kenya.
Essar Group had previously held an indirect stake in the Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK) via its 49% holding in parent company Econet Wireless Group. ETK, which trades under the ‘Yu’ brand, recently announced that it has achieved its goal of nationwide coverage of its mobile network in Kenya.
The takeover by Essar Group will facilitate a USD450 million rollout.
ETK CEO, Srinivasa Iyengar, said: ‘Previously, we had a 35% stake which was holding us back in accessing funds from lenders. But now we have enough money to see us through our expansion program. We have already received USD50 million in funding and the rest will be coming in phases in a five-year plan … The journey has been long for this brand but with the nationwide reach, we can now compete with the rest of the operators.’
Until April 2009, Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK) was known as Econet Wireless Kenya but was rebranded to dissuade persistent media speculation that Essar was considering selling its stake in the company.
In July, Essar Telecom Kenya (ETK) received a USD93.75 million capital injection from the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF), Africa’s largest infrastructure private equity fund.
Source(s): Telegeography
