Safaricom has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of M-Pesa Holding Company Limited from its parent company, Vodafone Group PLC, finalizing a process that began in April of this year.
Safaricom confirmed that it now holds 100% ownership of M-Pesa, a company that manages billions of Kenyan shillings in customer deposits. This acquisition establishes M-Pesa as a fully owned subsidiary of Safaricom.
M-Pesa Holding acts as the corporate trustee responsible for safeguarding M-Pesa customer funds, in compliance with the National Payment System Regulations of 2014. It operates independently in overseeing the trust and managing all funds within the mobile money service.
This transaction, initially disclosed by Vodafone in May, involved Safaricom making a symbolic payment of $1 to the British multinational. It is expected to boost Safaricom's cash flows and generate interest income by investing a portion of M-Pesa's substantial funds in short-term securities. This move is set to have a positive impact on the company, which is listed on the Nairobi Security Exchange.
