Currently, Mr Mufuruki holds one per cent of the total shares in the Zuku TV parent company.
Once the purchase of the additional shares is approved, his shareholding in the internet and pay-TV service provider will increase to 51 per cent.
The tech company started off as Wananchi Online in 2000 with Kenya’s Joe Mucheru and former CEO Njeri Rionge among its founders.
Dar es Salaam
Tanzanian businessman Ali Mufuruki is seeking to take over control of Wananchi Group Holdings Limited following the planned acquisition of the company’s 50 per cent shareholding.
Currently, Mr Mufuruki holds one per cent of the total shares in the Zuku TV parent company. Once the purchase of the additional shares is approved, his shareholding in the internet and pay-TV service provider will increase to 51 per cent.
Fair Competition Commission (FCC) announced on its website that it’s currently investigating the intended acquisition in line with the provisions of the Fair Competition Act and procedure rules.
FCC notified parties who deem themselves as having sufficient interest in the merger to register their interests and or objections (if any) or file any information that will assist the FCC in reaching a just and reasonable decision with regard to the acquisition.
Wananchi Group Holding Ltd is a home entertainment operator, provides home entertainment and communication services to residential and corporate customers. Its residential services include Internet through its fibre optic network; DTH satellite pay TV services; and acquiring and originating programming for its own pay TV channels.
The tech company started off as Wananchi Online in 2000 with Kenya’s Joe Mucheru and former CEO Njeri Rionge among its founders.
In 2008, the business transformed into Wananchi Group after new investors joined the company following several rounds of fundraising through a mix of debt and equity from State-owned Export Development Canada, Emerging Capital Partners, Dutch telcoms firm Altice, Nasdaq-listed cable firm Liberty Global Inc, and New York-based Prudence Holdings, among others.
Wananchi has operations in a dozen African countries — including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Somalia, Zambia, Malawi, and Mauritius.
