When the media were calling to ask for more information about the reports appearing on the ET website, they were reffered to the PR agency, Y&R, which did not have much info apart from copy pasting response which they believed came from Essar India officials. So Daily Nation, NTV, KTN, Citizen, Capital and blogs went ahead and reported majorly on the possibility of Essar Kenya changing hands soon.
A few calls here and there confirmed that Essar approached MTN and Bharti offering to be acquired for around $300 Million. The reports on ET were also credible considering the sale of the 33% Essar India stake on Vodafone Essar as highlighted in this video.
After playing hard to get, it was on Thursday that Madhur Taneja came from I don’t know wherever to assure the market, suppliers and partners that the company is here to stay. The argument is not convincing well enough considering that Essar Kenya is not making any long term investment in the market. The company has categorically said that they are not looking at rolling 3G network soon and their current position it seems is just to push them on as the buyer is being sought.
A Facebook page post show that the CEO did interviews on Citizen, KTN and KBC hoping to assure clients and partners. But comments on the page were not friendly to the youngest network in Kenya. See the way Madhur Taneja was hard pressed in this Citizen Kenya video.
What do you think of the actions of yu and its CEO? Don’t you think they should have a local person to handle media?
