[2008-03-31]  Government to Market Safaricom Abroad
The Government is set to hype the sale of Safaricom shares in the international market through a series of campaigns in Europe, South Africa and the Middle East.

The pre-marketing campaign will see Government officials and transaction advisers discussing the sale of Safaricom shares with various institutional investors locally and abroad.

The drive is aimed at preparing the international investors before the offer opens to them on April 9 through what is known as book-building, a kind of auction of the shares. During the campaign, the team will hold one-on-one meetings with the institutional investors, who are key in stabilising the shares in the secondary market.

Like in the local market, the offer will close on April 23 despite opening later.

A source familiar with the deal said the offer would not be open in the US market because of the country's stringent securities rules.

The lead joint transaction adviser, Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc said on Friday that the international investors would pay more for the share, a premium above what local investors are paying.

Mr John Porter, the company's managing director in charge of capital markets in the Middle East and Africa, said 35 per cent shares reserved for the international investors would revert to local investors if they do not offer more under book building.

"We have received a lot of interest on this offer internationally because Safaricom is a fantastic company by international standards," he said.

The Safaricom initial share sale has attracted international investors from as far as the United States and the Government is hoping that their presence will give the stock some premium value.

The 10 billion shares will start trading at the Nairobi Stock Exchange in early June. It's expected to almost double the number of shares trade at the bourse. Analyst say the IPO will be oversubscribed.

Source: Copyright © 2008 The Nation.