French Telco seeks more share in Management

Last Updated 13 years ago by Kenya Engineer

By Daisy Gakuu

France Telecom, which rebranded to Orange, will claim additional seats in the Telkom Kenya Board. As the majority stakeholder, with a 70 percent ownership of the joint venture acquired after the government failed to boost its wager in June, France has more authority to call the shots.

The French Telco firm said the composition of the management team will be reviewed to reflect the ownership shifts, which will give the French firm a bigger influence in the management of the Telco.

As of November last year, treasury’s stake in Telkom Kenya was 49 percent, which dropped to 40 percent in December following a Sh34 billion balance sheet restructuring plan.

Treasury was then offered a deal to retain its status quo but failed to meet the terms-to inject the remaining part of the Sh4.9 billion by the end of June- which saw the government’s  shares drop by 10 percent. The government has four seats in the board while France Telecom has five.

With the reduced voting rights and lesser board representation at Telkom,it is expected it will be difficult for the Kenyan government to push its agenda in the firm.

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