Mobitelea Ventures Limited

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Mobitelea Ventures is the name of a company that formerly owned 12.5% of Vodafone Kenya Ltd, [1] a 40% shareholder of Safaricom, a leading mobile network operator in Kenya. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

According to Vodafone, Mobitelea Ventures Limited was brought in as a partner to advise on local business processes and protocol. [7]

Documents obtained by The Guardian newspaper show that Mobitelea was registered in Guernsey on June 18, 1999. Mobitelea's owners are represented by two nominee firms, Guernsey – registered Mercator Nominees Ltd and Mercator Trustees Ltd. The directors are named as Anson Ltd and Cabot Ltd, based in Anguilla and Antigua. [7]

Vodafone brought back half of Mobitelea's stake at the beginning of 2003 [3] [8] and, during the year ending 31 March 2009, Mobitelea sold their remaining indirect shareholding in Safaricom to the Vodafone Group. [9]

Today, the shareholder structure of Safaricom is: Government of Kenya 35%; Vodafone 40%; Free Float 25%. [10]

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References

  1. "Prospectus inviting applications for 25% of the issued ordinary shares of Safaricom Limited. p. 42". Government of Kenya. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  2. "Kenya watchdog probes Safaricom ownership". Reuters. 2007-03-19. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  3. 1 2 White, Dominic (2007-02-17). "Investigation into Vodafone's mystery partner in Kenya". London: The Telegraph . Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  4. Olunga, Vitalis O (2007). Responses Of Safaricom Limited to Changes in the Telecommunication Industry in Kenya (MBA thesis). University of Nairobi.
  5. "Safaricom, Mobitelea Controversy" on YouTube
  6. "Gaps exposed in Safaricom and Telkom sales" on YouTube
  7. 1 2 Rice, Xan (2007-02-16). "Kenyan Inquiry into Vodafone's Mystery Partner". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  8. "Vodafone Reported to Have Bought Out Controversial Shareholder Cellular". Cellular News. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  9. "Vodafone Group PLC, Annual Report for the Year ended 31 March 2009. p. 98" (PDF). Vodafone. 2009-11-05. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  10. "Our Heritage". Safaricom Limited. Retrieved 2014-02-14.