JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Reuters) – Telecoms giant Vodafone has so far not held talks with South Africa over the London-listed firm buying Pretoria’s stake in its local subsidiary Vodacom, chief executive Vittorio Colao said on Wednesday. 
However, Colao told a news conference in Johannesburg he was open to talks with the South African government, which has stated an intention to sell state-held shareholdings to fund cash-strapped energy utility Eskom’s building of power plants.
“I personally haven’t got any discussion on that topic. We are happy where we are. We are happy with the current situation,” Colao said. “Having said that we would be open to discussions.”
The South African government holds a 13.91 percent stake in Vodacom, valued at 27.6 billion rand ($2.3 billion), that could be on the block to raise financing for Eskom.
Vodafone holds another 65 percent in Vodacom.
Colao said that while Vodafone was interested in widening its emerging markets coverage, the opportunities in Africa were few and expensive.
“The good assets in Africa, often the owners have a disproportionate idea of their value and therefore they don’t sell in the end. Or there are assets for sale but they are not good companies,” he said.
Vodafone has a presence in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, while its subsidiary Vodacom extends that reach into South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
