The government of Ghana on Tuesday night said it would renegotiate Vodafone’s $900m (£550m) purchase of a leading local telecoms group after an official review into alleged “irregularities” in the deal.
The dispute is a potential blow to the world’s biggest mobile provider by revenues, which has been expanding in emerging markets – Africa among them – to seek faster growth.
The UK’s Serious Fraud Office on Tuesday said it had contacted Vodafone regarding the deal, though it has not launched an investigation.
“The deal will not be abrogated,” a spokesman for the communications ministry told the Financial Times. “The government will renegotiate instead of just bulldozing its way. That has already started.”
Vodafone declined to comment. It has said previously that it would not comment until it has seen the full report of the government committee that reviewed the deal.
A review of Vodafone’s acquisition last year of 70 per cent of formerly state-owned Ghana Telecom, which enjoys the third-largest share of what African telecoms groups regard as one of the continent’s most attractive markets, challenged the legality of the deal when it reported last month.
It questioned the validity of a clause in the sale agreement which it said precluded the government, which retained a 30 per cent share, from bringing corruption proceedings against “any member of the enlarged [Ghana Telecom] group”.
The communications ministry spokesman said the government would also investigate “what was actually paid”. The review committee claimed the government had received only $267m. Vodafone said at the time the deal was struck that it had paid “a consideration of $900m on a debt-free, cash-free basis” for the stake.
The government said in a statement that it had decided to “re-engage with [Vodafone] and ensure that there is compliance with the country’s laws”. The review had suggested that Vodafone’s use of a Dutch holding company to conduct the transaction might have rendered it unconstitutional.
The government also hopes to renegotiate the inclusion in the sale agreement of some telecoms infrastructure.
