This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
On March 31, 2020, Safaricom Plc disclosed a 50% ownership stake in M-Pesa Global Services Limited, a joint venture with Vodacom Group Limited, after acquiring the mobile money platform from Vodafone Group Plc for Sh2.14 billion.
The acquisition, which was completed in March 2020, saw the two companies split the costs equally, resulting in a 50-50 ownership structure.
According to Safaricom's latest annual report, the joint venture will allow the parties to consolidate M-Pesa platform development, synchronize product road maps, and improve operational capabilities.
“The joint venture will drive the next generation of the M-Pesa platform — an intelligent, cloud-based platform for the smartphone age,” Safaricom said.
As a result of the acquisition, Safaricom booked a one-time gain of Sh3.3 billion in the year ended March 2020, attributed to the intrinsic value of the M-Pesa brand previously unrecognizable due to the ownership structure.
M-Pesa, which started as a person-to-person money transfer service in March 2007, recorded a 12.6% growth in revenue to Sh84.4 billion in the review period, accounting for a third of Safaricom's annual sales.
