Europe’s largest entertainment group, Vivendi of France, has reportedly won the race for Zain Africa with a reported bid of $12 billion, according to a Kenyan daily.
The Daily Monitor reports that “although officials at both companies and their transaction handlers declined to confirm the deal, sources familiar with the transaction said it had been recently completed, clearing the way for a new owner for the local operation”.
BusinessDay had exclusively reported on Friday, June 12, this year, that Vivendi was engaged in talks with the Zain Group to buy its Africa operations which span 16 countries, including Nigeria, and that the asking price was $12 billion.
Zain operates in 22 countries with over 15,000 employees providing a range of mobile, voice and data services to over 63.5 million active individuals and business customers by end-year 2008.
Its area of operations include the six countries in the Middle East: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon (as MTC touch), and in 16 countries in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It has 40 million subscribers on the African continent, with the Nigeria network, which has 15 million subscribers, contributing the most.
But its African operations contributed only 10 percent of profit, last year, though with 65 percent of its customers. The company in Nigeria recently trimmed its workforce significantly, apparently in preparation for the sale.
Media experts expect a change of name, which they said will necessitate a re-branding exercise, which for the Nigerian network alone could cost as much as N1 billion. If this happens, they said, the company will become an international reference point in corporate re-branding.
Zain Nigeria has in the past seven years been owned by different operators and had changed names severally.
It had transformed from Econet Wireless Nigeria to Vodacom, then to V-mobile, again to Celtel and to its current name, Zain.
Experts said that in the course of such a re-branding exercise, a company would have to pull down all its visual communications including ID cards, letterheads, internet website, out door advertising, colour scheme shops, recharge cards and more.
According to Akin Adeoya, managing director/CEO of Marketing Mix, a media and branding communication firm based in Lagos, “If they are going to have a re-branding which will encompass a change of name, it will be a case study internationally. One would not have thought it would have survived so many changes… almost on a yearly basis.
“It will go to prove that if the business proposition works, the branding challenge will also work. The brand already represents a multiplicity of contrasting images to the customer. Some people still call it Econet, some call it Celtel.
“The brand is challenged. There is need for some level of stability. My own advice, if possible will be for the owners to retain the brand name, rather than change it immediately”.
Charles Otudor, managing director of Adstrat Consult, a brand and marketing consulting company, noted that “the constant change in corporate identity of Zain creates top-of-the-mind brand identity crisis and distortion. It is critical for brands to retain consistency in feel, look, and language. Also of critical importance is the brand behaviour.
“Most consumers purchase or invest in brands based on the perceived brand promise. Consistency remains a key component of that purchase and it is mostly a result of trust. That trust can only be achieved via consistency. Besides the perception issue, there is also the economic cost of the new brand implementation. Most brand identity implementations always cost a premium.”
“Coming on the heels of the global financial meltdown, when most organisations are scaling down costs, this identity change is worrisome, but I guess the board has a reason”, he said.
Perhaps, Zain Nigeria’s ability to hold on to its subscribers through the identity changes has not been by happenstance. A source noted that “Zain, since it started eight years ago as Econet Wireless has managed to engage its publics positively and win their loyalty even through a handful of re-branding exercises.
“It has maintained admirable quality of service over the years and during the inception of GSM services in Nigeria, Zain, then Econet, had the lowest denomination of airtime recharge cards and this endeared it to its publics who could recharge their phones for a token. Also, the company has proved itself to be a socially responsible and responsive corporate citizen.”
Continuing, the source said, “It is further said that through its re-branding exercises, Zain has challenged and enriched the media and branding sector in the country and created media crisis and branding experts of its own.”


http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3658:vivendi-finally-lands-zain-africa-for-12bn&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

This is fabulous.

If i may ask will
they still change
the current
name ZAIN?

And if what will
be the next name?

Out goes zain, in comes Vivendi! Zain(?) subscribers have gone through a lot! They sure need to be rewarded this time around with improved service delivery and stability, the brand name should be retained.

Another dies, another one is born.

If this Econet-Vodacom-Vmobile-Celtel-Zain and now,

This reminds me of the SAW movies, so unnecessary.

Na wa ya oh!
Imagiine what their re-branding cost alone has been gulping since the unending change of names from Econet to Vodacom, Vodacom to V-mobile, V-mobile to Celtel and Celtel to Zain.
Wishing the company all the best.

Zain again? I think they are still at the bidding stage. But if they will rebrand again, the permanent name should be Zakadezulu networks. I'm wishing Zain & vivendi best of luck. Before now, Zain outsourced their Network management to Erricsson

them go enter record o.

Is it not better to rebrand if that is what is necessary rather than go bankrupt with its ugly consequences on the economy? Personally,  if another foreign investor is what it will take to keep Zain (or whatever its name becomes) successful, then I think it is good for the nation's economy. I hope this will translate into more jobs for our teeming graduates.

i believe this new guys can see what the previous cant. hope dey hve a faster &better internet connection.

OK O! it's about rebranding eh?!

econet-vodacom-vmobile-celtel-zain-vivendi-, LOTA

really UN-COOL!

Everybody get ready for another name change.
Econet -> Vmobile -> Celtel -> Zain -> Vivendi  
I hope it will be the last change and brings about better connections.

Wld just love the name Vivendi Nig.
I love this ntwk alot.

Chei!, i don see my ears for this people hand

Let see what the world will creat. for me i'm tired of this re-branding stuff. everything is busnes sha. just let cross our leg and see how things go,

what's this all about? saad al barak & his band of briefcase businessman are at it again! i hope they improve service delivery, spread & prices of their services! meanwhile i hope they recall their sacked staff.
whatever they want to do, na them sabi as they can stretch me a consultancy job on their re-branding that is imminent.
wishin them more grease to their elbow,

Fret not, my peeps! It is all in the line of corporate strategy. Hopefully the Zain brand name will endure. But if not, as the saying goes, ''change is the only constant thing in life''!

I dont think the brand name will be affected, VIVENDI is only going to be allocated stake on the african operation,

I will buy zain(Vivendi) in 2020.

Not Again

Next is the rebranding and a change in name again

The new name sounds just weird. LOL

Hey!! na wa for this network o. What will happen to my internet connectivity I just procured from them? Why cant they just make up their minds on what they want to be?

Na wa o!!! Basketmouth had advised them to just rename themselves as "The GSM Network". They should have taken his advice a long time ago.

But why was the CEO in naija Mr ligali denying the take over rumors just a few days ago? Is he afraid of losing his job to an italian?

The FG's rebranding is working afterall

i love the name ZAIN the most
wonder what it will be changed to now

going, going,gone and so they will be going, i advise subscribers to look 4 what to cling to

What happens to their all the staff they out-sourced to Ericsson?

prostituting network should be next buyer.

meetings upon meetings
men in black, briefcases and findings

rebranding
renaming

from econet to zain
Vivendi please retain

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