NAIROBI -(Dow Jones)- Kenya's largest mobile telecommunications network service provider, Safaricom, will launch its initial public offer March 28, the finance minister announced Friday.
The IPO will close April 23.
Finance Minster Amos Kimunya told reporters the 26 days offered will give Kenyans amble opportunity to invest.
The government will offer 25% of the issued ordinary shares of Safaricom, the company said in a statement.
The IPO will offer 10 billion shares priced at 5 Kenyan shillings a share, which implies a value of KES200 billion ($3 billion).
The government hopes to raise KES50 billion from the IPO, which will be used to finance development programs.
Kimunya said the offer will be split into two pools - domestic and international. The international pool will be open to institutional investors only. The price will be determined through a book-building.
Investors in the domestic pool will have to buy a minimum of 2,000 shares.
Safaricom's estimated market share at the end of December was 80%. The company has nearly 10 million subscribers.
Morgan Stanley and with local investment bank, Dyer & Blair are the transaction advisors.
-By George Mwangi, Dow Jones Newswires; +254 735 781 853; gmwangi91@hotmail.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 14th March 2008
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