Orange has completed the sale of Telkom Kenya to private equity firm Helios Investment Partners in settlement of an agreement originally signed in November 2015 between the two companies and following the agreement of the Kenyan authorities.
Orange has now completed the sale of its 70% stake in Telkom Kenya. Orange re-stated that the African and Middle-East region was still a strategic priority. This divestment, Orange said, is a result of its constant focus on optimizing its portfolio of assets. The French telecom firm paid USD 390 million dollars for its stake in 2007.
A statement issued by Orange announced the finalisation of the transaction, which it said was subjected to approval from relevant authorities including the Kenyan government.
Telkom Kenya is the country's incumbent fixed-line provider and the third largest mobile operator. The Kenyan government owns the other 30% of Telkom Kenya.
Orange is the latest international operator to exit from Kenya. Safaricom - partly owned by - has the majority of subscribers. Orange tried in November 2014 to sell its majority shareholding in Telkom Kenya to Vietnamese telecom firm Viettel, but this attempt failed when the Kenyan government rejected a number of Viettel’s conditions.
