A Telkom Kenya outlet on Koinange Street in Nairobi. Telkom Kenya currently operates under France Telecom’s Orange brand. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Private equity firm Helios acquired a 70 per cent stake in the company from France Telecom in June.
Helios later ceded 10 per cent stake to the government, bringing the Treasury’s stake in Telkom Kenya to 40 per cent.
Telkom Kenya is set to rebrand by April next year in the latest phase of a transition that began with private equity firm Helios’ stake purchase in the company.
ICT and Innovation PS Victor Kyalo said yesterday the company would increase its infrastructure investments ahead of the rebranding. The government has 40 per cent shareholding in the telco.
“What you’re going to see next year is a new Telkom Kenya. We’re busy increasing our coverage, getting more base stations,” said Mr Kyalo.
The April date was set during a board meeting last week.
Mr Kyalo represented the government on the board. Telkom Kenya currently operates under France Telecom’s Orange brand.
Private equity firm Helios acquired a 70 per cent stake in the company from France Telecom in June. Helios later ceded 10 per cent stake to the government, bringing the Treasury’s stake in Telkom Kenya to 40 per cent.
A transition period of 18 months during which Telkom Kenya would continue using the Orange brand was stipulated in the sale agreement. However, the company had indicated a desire to shed the brand name earlier.
Helios came into Telkom Kenya at a time when the company was underperforming within the context of a difficult business environment in which only market leader Safaricom was making profits.
Part of the turnaround strategy for Telkom Kenya has included an overhaul of the company’s management.
In June, Helios brought former Orascom executive Aldo Mareuse to the helm of Telkom Kenya.
Gambian Amer Atwi was brought in to manage the mobile business division while former Safaricom executives, John Barorot and Sundararaman Pattabiraman were hired as chief technical and information officer, and Chief Financial Officer respectively.
To woo customers, Telkom Kenya recently reviewed its data prices.
The company has also indicated that it is open to investing in new undersea cables to connect Kenya to international traffic. Telkom Kenya already has stake in three fibre-optic undersea cables.
Statistics from the Communication Authority show that Telkom Kenya’s subscriptions grew 8.9 per cent to 5.2 million in the quarter to June 2016.
