Vodacom may consider a separate listing of its main South African business to unlock value, seeking to address what CEO Shameel Joosub says is a stockmarket discount to the carrier’s sum-of-parts worth.

The overall company, which also includes operations in Tanzania and Mozambique, trades in Johannesburg and could look at whether a carve out of the domestic division makes sense, he said in an interview on Monday.

“We are looking at how to give more disclosure so that the market gives us credit for our assets,” said Joosub.
“If not, we will look at optionality on whether to list some,” including the domestic operation, he added.

The company, which last week agreed to buy a majority stake in Vodafone Group Plc’s Egypt unit, is also separating its telecom towers portfolio into a new unit, Joosub said. The group won’t look to dispose of them but would rather seek partners to grow the business, he said.

Vodacom is also looking for partners to grow fibre networks in operations outside of its home market, the CEO said. The company last week agreed to buy a minority stake in a vehicle housing South African fibre companies Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa. The majority owner is a unit of Remgro, billionaire Johann Rupert’s investment firm.

Joosub’s comments come as Africa-focused telecom firms look to wring more value out of their continent-wide operations.
Vodacom’s Johannesburg-based rival MTN Group is working on a deal to sell and lease back South African masts and has had its financial-technology business valued at R87 billion ($5.7 billion) ahead of a potential spinoff next year.

Vodacom shares jumped on the Bloomberg report before returning lower.

The stock traded down 1.7% as of 3:40pm local time, and has gained 11% this year. By contrast, MTN has surged 164% in 2021 and surpassed Vodacom’s market capitalisation along the way.

Vodacom is more than 60% owned by the UK’s Vodafone, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.