Wananchi Group, an East African pay-TV and internet company which owns Zuku, has hired Lazard Ltd. to work on a potential sale as some of its investors look for an exit, people familiar with the matter said. Zuku Packages include data and tv pay services.
Wananchi targets the growing middle class in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing broadband services through fiber and satellite technology in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia. It also owns pay-TV provider Zuku.
Media giant Liberty Global Plc, telecommunications firm Altice Europe NV as well as London-based Helios Investment Partners are keen to sell their stakes in the Kenyan company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
A sale could value the business at as much as $500 million including debt, they said.
Helios invested $40 million in the company in 2014 as part of a round to raise money for regional expansion. Wananchi got $130 million from investors including Altice, Liberty and Helios, the Nairobi-based company said in a statement at the time.
Internet distribution statistics released by Communication Authority of Kenya show that although Wananchi Group still control 30 per cent of fixed data in Kenya with 112,155 subscribers, Safaricom has grown its shareholding to 21.2 per cent in just two years.
In 2016, appointed Zuku co- owner Richard Bell as a tax representative for his offshore companies based in Mauritius alleged to participate in tax fraud worth Sh. 3.4 trillion. Last month, the High Court declined to stop Bell’s co-shareholders from participating in the case pending appeal against their enjoinment.
High Court Judge John Mativo ruled that Bell’s fear that the shareholders might bring adverse evidence restrained by court in a separate suit is not a ground to warrant their suspension pending appeal.
From the first line, it is clear that the article title is click bait. Zuku’s investors, Helios et al, are looking to sell their stake in the business. They are Private Equity investors. That’s what they do.