Safaricom has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of M-Pesa Holding Company Limited from Vodafone International Holdings BV.
On April 17 this year, Safaricom entered into a share purchase agreement with Vodafone BV for the transfer of 100 per cent shareholding in M-Pesa Holding to Safaricom.
M-Pesa Holdings is the corporate trustee responsible for holding M-Pesa customer funds under the M-Pesa trust arrangement, as required by the National Payment System Regulations, 2014.
“Completion of the transaction was subject to the satisfaction of conditions, that are customary for transactions of this nature,” Safaricom company secretary Linda Wambani said in a notice through the Nairobi Securities Exchange, dated October 19.
These include obtaining approval from shareholders and relevant regulators, all of which she said have been duly satisfied and all regulatory approvals obtainers.
Post completion, M-Pesa Holding will continue to act as the corporate trustee of the M-Pesa trust fund.
M-Pesa was established on March 6, 2007 by Vodafone's Kenyan associate, Safaricom, and has grown to become Africa's most successful mobile money service and the East African region’s largest fintech platform.
A transaction disclosure in April had indicated the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company would pay the British multinational, which was previously its top shareholder, a token amount of $1 in the deal.
The move now gives Safaricom full control and the potential to boost its cash flows besides earning the company interest income.
This is through investing part of the M-Pesa war chest in short-term securities, it controls up to 98 per cent share of the country's mobile money market.
M-Pesa Holding had short-term investments of about Sh185.3 billion as of March 31, 2023, according to Vodafone.
It also held M-Pesa customer funds amounting to about Sh182.18 billion.
