---
title: Vodacom completes acquisition of controlling stake in Safaricom - Developing Telecoms
description: Vodacom has completed its acquisition of an effective 20% stake in Safaricom, increasing its holding in Kenya’s largest telecoms operator to 55% and securing controlling ownership of the business.
canonical_url: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/20461-vodacom-completes-acquisition-of-controlling-stake-in-safaricom.html
language: en-GB
date: 2026-06-30T13:32:30Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/20461-vodacom-completes-acquisition-of-controlling-stake-in-safaricom.html. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1180
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news/20461-vodacom-completes-acquisition-of-controlling-stake-in-safaricom.html. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


 [Operators](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news.html)## Vodacom completes acquisition of controlling stake in Safaricom

 

 

   Details    Manny Pham    Category: [Operators](https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/operator-news.html)     30 June 2026     7312 views   

 

  ![Vodacom completes acquisition of controlling stake in Safaricom](https://developingtelecoms.com/images/stories/Company_Logos/800x600/Vodacom-1200.jpg)  

 

Vodacom has completed its acquisition of an effective 20% stake in Safaricom, increasing its holding in Kenya’s largest telecoms operator to 55% and securing controlling ownership of the business.

The transaction follows last week’s decision by Kenya’s Court of Appeal to lift an injunction that had blocked the sale, clearing the way for completion. Bloomberg previously reported that the ruling allowed the government to proceed with the long-delayed disposal of its stake.

Under the completed deal, Vodacom acquired a 15% stake from the Government of Kenya for KES204 billion (€1.36 billion) and a further 5% stake from Vodafone for KES68 billion (€450 million).

The additional 5% was transferred through Vodafone International Holdings B.V., which sold its remaining 12.5% stake in Vodafone Kenya Limited, equivalent to an effective 5% interest in Safaricom.

The transaction means Safaricom will now be fully consolidated in the financial results of both Vodacom and Vodafone, giving the companies controlling ownership of one of Africa’s largest telecoms and mobile financial services providers.

The acquisition marks the end of a lengthy legal process after Kenya’s High Court temporarily halted the government’s planned stake sale following legal challenges. The Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the injunction, allowing the transaction to close.

 

 

   
## More Articles you may be Interested in...

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#manny_pham_133554b7e2"
            },
            "dateModified": "2026-06-30T13:32:30Z",
            "datePublished": "2026-06-30T13:32:30Z",
            "description": "Vodacom has completed its acquisition of an effective 20% stake in Safaricom, increasing its holding in Kenya’s largest telecoms operator to 55% and securing controlling ownership of the business.",
            "headline": "Vodacom completes acquisition of controlling stake in Safaricom",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/Company_Logos\/Vodacom-1200.jpg",
                    "caption": "",
                    "description": "Vodacom completes acquisition of controlling stake in Safaricom",
                    "width": 1200,
                    "height": 900
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/20461-vodacom-completes-acquisition-of-controlling-stake-in-safaricom.html"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/operator-news\/20461-vodacom-completes-acquisition-of-controlling-stake-in-safaricom.html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Manny Pham",
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#manny_pham_133554b7e2"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Developing Telecoms"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/highResLogos\/dt-site-logo-440.png",
            "width": "440",
            "height": "122"
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->

