Cell C says attracted takeover interest

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s third-ranked cell phone operator, Cell C, has attracted unsolicited interest from potential buyers but no firm bids, a company official said on Monday.

“There has been interest, there have been some calls, but nothing formal,” Cell C’s Chief Corporate Officer Zeona Motshabi told Reuters, confirming press reports. Motshabi declined to give further details, saying it was an issue for shareholders, not management.Unlisted Cell C, which has failed to turn a profit more than five years after launching, is majority owned by Dubai-based Oger Telecom.Oger Telecom Chief Executive Paul Doany confirmed the firm had “received a number of expressions of interest from potential buyers (of Cell C), but no real offers”.He declined to give further details.Middle Eastern and some European firms are snapping up mobile assets in Africa amid booming demand for cell phones in the world’s poorest continent.A spokesman for Kuwait’s MTC, whose Celtel unit is the third-biggest operator in Africa, said it was not aware of any takeover interest in Cell C.Celtel runs networks in 15 African countries but has no presence in South Africa.”I don’t know anything about the Cell C issue,” said Ibrahim Adel, director of corporate communications at MTC.Oger Telecom, which is owned by conglomerate Saudi Oger, said on its Web site it owns 75 per cent of Cell C through an indirect shareholding.Motshabi said Cell C, which issued high-yield bonds in 2005 to boost its finances, expected to turn a net profit within the next two years and said it aimed to double its EBITDA this year.Cell C has no plans to issue more bonds, she said.The company, which lags Vodacom and MTN in Africa’s biggest cell phone market, says it is increasing subscribers after its new CEO Jeffrey Hedberg, who joined Cell C last year from Deutsche Telekom, launched a strategy aimed at shoring up profits.The company has almost three million subscribers compared with 2,7 million at the end of June 2006, Motshabi said.Vodacom says it had 21,8 million customers at the end of December and MTN had 12,5 million.Cell C aims to double revenue by 2010.Motshabi said 24 members of staff had been affected by a plan to cut costs and “refocus” the workforce but that 90 per cent had been offered an alternative job.She said there were no plans for large-scale job cuts.Nampa-ReutersMotshabi declined to give further details, saying it was an issue for shareholders, not management.Unlisted Cell C, which has failed to turn a profit more than five years after launching, is majority owned by Dubai-based Oger Telecom.Oger Telecom Chief Executive Paul Doany confirmed the firm had “received a number of expressions of interest from potential buyers (of Cell C), but no real offers”.He declined to give further details.Middle Eastern and some European firms are snapping up mobile assets in Africa amid booming demand for cell phones in the world’s poorest continent.A spokesman for Kuwait’s MTC, whose Celtel unit is the third-biggest operator in Africa, said it was not aware of any takeover interest in Cell C.Celtel runs networks in 15 African countries but has no presence in South Africa.”I don’t know anything about the Cell C issue,” said Ibrahim Adel, director of corporate communications at MTC.Oger Telecom, which is owned by conglomerate Saudi Oger, said on its Web site it owns 75 per cent of Cell C through an indirect shareholding.Motshabi said Cell C, which issued high-yield bonds in 2005 to boost its finances, expected to turn a net profit within the next two years and said it aimed to double its EBITDA this year.Cell C has no plans to issue more bonds, she said.The company, which lags Vodacom and MTN in Africa’s biggest cell phone market, says it is increasing subscribers after its new CEO Jeffrey Hedberg, who joined Cell C last year from Deutsche Telekom, launched a strategy aimed at shoring up profits.The company has almost three million subscribers compared with 2,7 million at the end of June 2006, Motshabi said.Vodacom says it had 21,8 million customers at the end of December and MTN had 12,5 million.Cell C aims to double revenue by 2010.Motshabi said 24 members of staff had been affected by a plan to cut costs and “refocus” the workforce but that 90 per cent had been offered an alternative job.She said there were no plans for large-scale job cuts.Nampa-Reuters