Telecom giant VimpelCom plans to sell its stake in Telecel Zimbabwe and has invited bids from interested investors, a report by Zimbabwean tabloid, The Herald, revealed.

In 2010 VimpelCom acquired Naguib Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom Holdings, which owns a 60 percent stake in Telecel Zimbabwe, but the Amsterdam-headquatered company’s review of its assets has seen it divest from Burundi and the Central African Republic.

“VimpelCom intends to sell its stake in Telecel and they have now reached a stage where it’s looking into the bids,” the Herald quotes a source who it said preferred not to be identified. “The process is now at an advanced stage and the winner might be announced before month end. “The bids were opened last week, but it may take up to 15 days to go through them.”

Vimpelcom, the world’s sixth largest telecom company, announced in October that it sold its Burundi and CAR assets to Strive Masiyiwa’s  Econet Wireless Group for $65 million. VimpelCom chief financial officer, Mr Andrew Davies, had described the sales as as part of the company’s strategic review of its assets worldwide. “We have previously outlined our Value Agenda within which our operations are reviewed to assess their future value to the group. The decision to sell our operations in CAR and Burundi is a result of this process.”

But Vimpelcom is yet to give an official confirmation to its proposed sale of Telecel Zimbabwe, the country’s second largest mobile phone operator.

Elsewhere on Ventures

Triangle arrow