Mascom Wireless, which was launched in 1998, after been issued with a licence by Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA), is owned by Portugal Telecom (PT), (50.1 percent) and T.S. Masiyiwa Holdings of Zimbabwe (14 percent) and some local investors.
Altech, which specialises in telecoms and electronics, was expected to issue a detailed statement late yesterday to clarify the deal.
“We will issue a statement at 4.30pm, on the whole deal,” an Altech official in Johannesburg said yesterday, when asked about the deal that is expected to run into millions of Rands.
On the other hand, Altech has been providing services for Econet Wireless of Zimbabwe - which is owned by T.S. Masiyiwa Holdings - following a joint venture agreement they entered into in January.
Econet Wireless currently holds the 14 percent stake and it is speculated that the deal was suggested by Altech to help fund some of Econet’s expansion projects.
Altech, which was founded in 1968, had a turnover of about R3.7 billion (about P2.6 billion) in February 2001 with the higher percentage of turnover of 64 percent coming from the telecoms sector. It is headed by a youthful CEO, Craig Venter, who has seen his company make 23 deals in 18 months.
Media reports from South Africa and Zimbabwe where Econet Wireless Holdings Limited is listed, suggest that the company would give up the 14 percent it acquired recently amid discontent from the minority. The reports also state that Altech, which is also listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), completed the due diligence process on Econet Wireless in June.
Econet Wireless, which operates in more than 10 African countries, is headed by 41-year-old Strive Masiyiwa, a Zimbabwean millionaire.
The company is estimated to be generating revenue of more than $300 million (about P1.4 billion) a year, which makes it one of the fastest growing and largest telecom companies on the continent.
These countries include Botswana, Nigeria, Kenya and some interests in the United Kingdom, with plans to extend to other parts of Europe.
Meanwhile, the other Mascom shareholder, PT, is paving way for citizen investors who have raised enough cash to buy PT shares in the mobile phone company. The selling of Econet shares is a result of the venture deal that Altech and Masiyiwa’s empire went into to help each other in a joint venture agreement. The arrangement was to later affect assets like Mascom Wireless Botswana, which has seen an increase in its subscribers, to more than 300 000.
Botswana has only two mobile phone providers with the other one being Orange, which was previously Vista, Botswana.
