Kenya's leading mobile operator Safaricom rejected accusations by parliament on Saturday that it harbours an undisclosed third shareholder and should be investigated before going ahead with a planned floatation.
Kenya's parliamentary investment watchdog recommended delaying Safaricom's expected initial public offering of a 25 percent stake on Friday until its ownership is clear. CEO Michael Joseph contradicted the watchdog's findings.
"Safaricom has only two shareholders. These are Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Kenya Limited. We do not know of any other shareholder," he told local daily, The Nation. "The plans for the initial public offer will not be affected," he said, adding that he welcomed further investigations.
Kenya's most profitable mobile operator, which has an estimated market capitalisation of about $2 billion, was due to sell the stake on the Nairobi Stock Exchange later this year. If completed, the sale would be the largest IPO on the bourse.
The report tabled by parliament's Public Investments Committee last week said there was a third shareholder and urged an inquiry, with help from Britain's Serious Fraud Office. The report was the outcome of an investigation that began in March after media reports suggested Mobitelea Ventures Ltd, a Guernsey-registered firm, owned 5 percent of Safaricom.
The committee also recommended that the state anti-graft body start investigations into the manner in which Mobitelea acquired its shares, accusing Vodafone of corruption. Safaricom was founded in 1999 in what until now was thought to be a 60/40 joint venture between state-owned Telkom Kenya and Britain's Vodafone. It recorded a pretax profit of 17.19 billion shillings ($258.3 million) for the year ending March 31, up 40 percent on the previous year.
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