Globacom rumours

Nigerian entrepreneur Mike Adenuga Jnr is rumoured to be implementing his plan to build a pan-African telecoms giant by acquiring Telkom of South Africa.

The idea is that if Globacom can do a deal based on Telkom's 50% stake in Vodacom. Globacom cannot bid for the Vodacom shares directly, as Vodacom's other 50%-owner, Vodafone, has the first right of refusal. So it can only access Vodacom by acquiring Telkom outright.

Telkom, so far, has claimed it has not entered any discussions. That said, rumours suggest Telekom's CEO and Adenuga had now met. Talk is that Globacom proposes that the new entity, to be called Vodaglo would be equally owned by Globacom and Telkom.

The question now is whether Telkom's shareholders, which include the South African government's 39%, would be interested in the bid by Nigeria's second-largest cellular operator.