Zimbabwe’s biggest telco, Econet Wireless, will be delisting its shares from the stockmarket, citing years of undervaluation of its stock in comparison with its peers on the continent.

The company says it will seek shareholder approval to delist from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) and spin off its real estate, towers and power assets to a new company called Econet Infrastructure Company Ltd (Econet InfraCo) to be listed on Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX).“Shareholders are advised that the Board of Directors of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited has resolved to pursue a voluntary delisting of the Company from the Official List of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE),” the company says in a cautionary statement dated December 15.

Under the arrangement, eligible shareholders will be granted a voluntary exit offer prior to the delisting to enable them realise value for their investment should they not wish to remain invested in an unlisted environment.“The exit offer will be financed partly in cash and partly in shares in the Company’s infrastructure subsidiary,” the company says.

The telco, which listed on the Harare-based bourse in 1998, says for the last several years, the company has traded at a significant discount to its peers across Africa. Its African peers trade at six to eight times of the Enterprise Value to Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EV/EBITDA).“For the last several years, the company has traded at a significant discount to its peers across Africa which trade at 6 – 8x EV/EBITDA. These peers have all already separated and realised value from their tower infrastructure whereas the company still owns its tower and other passive infrastructure which the company has now housed under a separate infrastructure company to be listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX),” Econet said.

The EBITDA valuation technique is a comparable valuation method that relies on a multiple of EBITDA derived from listed peers to arrive at an entity’s enterprise value. The EBITDA multiple which is a significant input, takes into account management’s experience and knowledge of market conditions, size of operations, debt and geographical location amongst other comparable variables. The higher the EBITDA multiple, the higher the fair value.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is majority-owned by the Zimbabwean billionaire businessman and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, with 42.9 percent through Econet Wireless Global Ltd, which is based in Mauritius and London.

The other shareholders are 80 percent of the country’s pension and mutual funds. It is the most widely held company by ordinary Zimbabwean retail investors. The company declared and paid a total dividend of 1.76 US cents per share for the year ended February 28, 2025.

As part of the arrangement, Econet has established Econet InfraCo to hold its real estate, towers and power assets to help unlock value for its shareholders.“This approach enables clearer visibility of asset values, focused capital allocation, and a distinct operational strategy for infrastructure deployment and management,” the telco said.

It will retain 70 percent of the issued shares of Econet InfraCo and allocate up to 30 percent of the shares towards the settlement of the exit offer for shareholders who opt not to remain invested in the company following the delisting.“The valuation of Econet InfraCo’s shares will be determined by an independent valuation expert to ensure fairness, transparency, and regulatory compliance,” the company said.

It will list the shares of Econet InfraCo on the VFEX by way of introduction.

Unlike the mobile network operator business in Zimbabwe, infrastructure assets represent a different class of investment, one that is better understood and valued within dollar-based property and infrastructure markets.

This is demonstrated by the higher price-to-earnings multiples at which listed real estate and infrastructure companies trade on the VFEX.“It is the Board’s view that the VFEX (Victoria Falls Stock Exchange) provides an appropriate platform for recognising the long-term value of Econet InfraCo,” the company says.“Shareholders wishing to deal in the Company’s shares post delisting may do so privately, subject to the Memorandum and Articles of the Company and the provisions of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act (“COBE”), and the rights of pre- emption of the existing shareholders.”Accordingly, the company’s memorandum and articles will be amended to reinstate the rights of pre-emption of shareholders that were removed upon listing of the Company on the ZSE.“Shareholders and the investing public are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the Company’s securities until a further announcement is made,” the company says.

In 2025, Econet significantly expanded its 5G footprint to 144 sites and 1,654 4G (LTE) sites, commissioned 77 new sites and refreshed 546 existing sites, further enhancing its network infrastructure and service delivery.

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