Safaricom and its South African parent company Vodacom have completed the buying of intellectual property rights to M-Pesa service from British firm Vodafone in a deal estimated at Sh1.42 billion ($13.4 million). The two announced on Tuesday that th...
Safaricom and its South African parent company Vodacom have completed the buying of intellectual property rights to M-Pesa service from British firm Vodafone in a deal estimated at Sh1.42 billion ($13.4 million). The two announced on Tuesday that the completion of the deal, first announced last year, will give them full control of the M-Pesa brand, product development and support services. The purchasing of the rights will further yield significant savings in royalties paid to Vodafone and expand the mobile money service to new African markets. Safaricom has been paying two percent of its annual M-Pesa revenue to Vodafone while Vodacom has been paying five percent in an intellectual property fee.
Former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said the deal will improve operational capabilities of M-Pesa, which is now on its thirteenth year in Kenya. Safaricom and its South African parent company Vodacom have completed the buying of intellectual property rights to M-Pesa service from British firm Vodafone in a deal estimated at Sh1.42 billion ($13.4 million). The two announced on Tuesday that the completion of the deal, first announced last year, will give them full control of the M-Pesa brand, product development and support services.
The purchasing of the rights will further yield significant savings in royalties paid to Vodafone and expand the mobile money service to new African markets. Safaricom has been paying two percent of its annual M-Pesa revenue to Vodafone while Vodacom has been paying five percent in an intellectual property fee. Former Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said the deal will improve operational capabilities of M-Pesa, which is now on its thirteenth year in Kenya.
Original Source: Business Daily
