Bharti Airtel is looking to list a 15 per cent stake in its Kenyan subsidiary on the local stock market in order to bring the company in line with local limits on foreign shareholding.

Currently, Airtel Kenya is 95 per cent owned by the Indian parent company, and attempts to sell a 15 per cent stake to a local investor have proven difficult. Hence the plans for a stock market listing to bring the Indian company’s holding down to the 80 per cent maximum allowed.

Airtel has been trying to find a buyer for the 15 per cent stake since it acquired the company in 2010, but as it is still a loss making subsidiary, investors have been unwilling to invest.

The government has granted an exemption so far while Airtel seeks a buyer, and had agreed to extend that until Airtel is able to list its shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The listing may itself be delayed though by NSE rules that require companies to have posted at least three years of profits prior to listing.

Airtel Kenya expects to break even within two years, which puts a listing at 2018 at the earliest under the current rules.

Batelco has confirmed that it is in talks to buy a subsidiary owned by the Indian mobile network operator, Reliance Communications.

India’s RCom, which is laden down with nearly US$7 billion of debt, has been looking to sell a stake for some time to help pay down some of the debt pile.

Batelco had previously invested in the country through a mobile network, but was forced to write off the investment following last year’s cancellation of the 2008 GSM licences.

The current sale negotiations are limited to Reliance’s enterprise business unit, Reliance Globalcom.

“We are in discussions with Reliance Group with respect to Reliance Globalcom,” Batelco chief executive Sheikh Mohamed bin Isa al-Khalifa said in a statement.

It is estimated that a sale of the division could raise US$1.3 billion for the indebted parent company.

Atlantique Telecom, part of The Etisalat Group, today announced that it has entered a five-year multi-country managed services agreement with Ericsson to manage its mobile networks.

During the past decade, the number of mobile connections in Africa has grown an average of 30 per cent per year and the pace of growth shows no signs of slowing. Atlantique Telecom aims to develop offerings based on value-added services to its growing subscriber base, taking into account the specific requirements of each consumer and providing solutions tailored to their expectations. This agreement enables Atlantique Telecom to focus even more on its core business – delivering innovative offerings to its customers.

The contract covers network operations, field maintenance, network optimisation and spare parts management for Atlantique Telecom’s multi-vendor mobile networks, including access, core and transmission, as well as value added services.

Bharti Airtel says that it has increased its stake in its Nigerian subsidiary after buying 13.36 per cent of additional shares from unnamed sellers.

"Bharti Airtel Ltd has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bharti Airtel Nigeria B.V., has acquired an additional (around) 13.36 equity stake in Airtel Networks Ltd, Nigeria from certain existing shareholders," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Airtel now owns 79.06 per cent of the Nigerian mobile network.

Financial details were not disclosed.

However, Airtel still faces challenges over a five per cent stake claimed by Econet Wireless in Airtel Nigeria, and ratified by an international arbitration tribunal and Nigerian court.

Ericsson and STMicroelectronics are struggling to find buyers for their beleaguered ST-Ericsson joint venture. According to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, the two companies have been trying to sell the wireless chip business for three months.

Samsung Electronics was among the potential buyers approached, says the report, but the South Korean manufacturer declined to make an offer.

ST-Ericsson has endured a torrid time since the joint venture was formed in 2008, racking up enormous losses for its parent companies. The company has struggled to compete with semiconductor rivals from the US and Asia in the smartphone and tablet markets, and has also been impacted by weakness at its most important customers.

Earlier this week, chief executive Didier Lamouche announced his decision to leave the company.

Some analysts have interpreted his departure as a sign that sales talks have not been going well.

STMicroelectronics announced its intention to leave the joint venture last December, while Ericsson has reportedly no interest in fully owning the business. If a buyer can’t be found, then winding down ST-Ericsson might well be the favoured option.

There is some speculation, too, that the French government might step in with a bail out.

STMicroelectronics is 27.5 per cent owned by the French and Italian governments, and Francois Holland, France’s socialist president, had previously voiced concerns over job losses at ST-Ericsson under cost-saving plans laid out by Lamouche.

ST-Ericsson employs about 1,200 people in France.

ST-Ericsson made an operating loss of SEK11.7 billion (US$1.84 billion) during 2012, nearly five times the loss racked up the previous year (SEK2.7 billion).