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JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Reuters) - Telecoms giant Vodafone has so far not held talks with South Africa over theLondon-listed firm buying Pretoria's stake in its localsubsidiary Vodacom, chief executive Vittorio Colao saidon Wednesday.
However, Colao told a news conference in Johannesburg he wasopen to talks with the South African government, which hasstated an intention to sell state-held shareholdings to fundcash-strapped energy utility Eskom's building of power plants.
"I personally haven't got any discussion on that topic. Weare happy where we are. We are happy with the currentsituation," Colao said. "Having said that we would be open todiscussions."
The South African government holds a 13.91 percent stake inVodacom, valued at 27.6 billion rand ($2.3 billion), that couldbe on the block to raise financing for Eskom.
Vodafone holds another 65 percent in Vodacom.
Colao said that while Vodafone was interested in wideningits emerging markets coverage, the opportunities in Africa werefew and expensive.
"The good assets in Africa, often the owners have adisproportionate idea of their value and therefore they don'tsell in the end. Or there are assets for sale but they are notgood companies," he said.
Vodafone has a presence in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda,while its subsidiary Vodacom extends that reach intoSouth Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and the DemocraticRepublic of Congo. (Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana;Editing by James Macharia)
Vodafone (VOD)
