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Kenya’s telecoms giant Safaricom said in a statement it has finalised the acquisition of the entire issued share capital in M-Pesa Holdings Ltd. from Vodafone International Holdings.
By taking over from the British telecoms provider, Safaricom is taking full control of the mobile money transfer business, its biggest moneymaker, holding all customer funds estimated at millions of dollars.
Safaricom entered into a share purchase agreement with Vodafone International Holdings in April this year for the transfer of 100% shareholding in M-Pesa, for the token price of $1.
Now a global brand with more than 30 million users in Kenya alone, M-Pesa was introduced in 2007 as a money transfer service but is used for taking loans, savings, insurance, and making purchases. It generates around half of Safaricom's revenue and is available to users in several African and other foreign countries.
Safaricom, which is partly owned by Vodafone and South Africa's Vodacom, recently also entered the Ethiopian market, where it launched mobile financial services in June. It is betting that the vast market of 120 million people that make up the second most populous country in Africa will rapidly boost its M-Pesa revenue.
M-Pesa is also available in Egypt, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mozambique and Lesotho.
(Editing by Bindu Rai)
