Vivendi, the French media conglomerate, has reportedly put in an offer to acquire Zain’s African mobile operations, reports Nigeria’s Business Day. The Kuwait-based Zain only acquired the businesses in 2005 via the US$3.4 billion acquisition of Celtel. However, the firm is now reportedly looking at selling the networks, which are valued at as much as US$12 billion. Vivendi is the joint-owner (with Vodafone) of SFR, France’s second-largest mobile operator, and also controls Morocco’s Maroc Telecom, which has numerous stakes in other African countries such as Mauritania (Mauritel), Burkina Faso (Onatel) and Gabon (Gabon Telecom).

A sale of Zain’s African networks would be a surprising move as the operator has only recently completed rebranding the networks following the Celtel acquisition. Business Day notes that Zain Nigeria would have to be rebranded again despite having changed names several times in recent years, from Econet, Vodacom, V-mobile, Celtel to Zain. A separate report by Money Biz notes that Zain’s African businesses account for 16 of the group’s 23 markets and around 65 percent of the group’s customers. However, Africa only contributed 10 percent of group profit last year, and suffered a net loss in the first quarter. The group has repeatedly stated a target of becoming a top ten global mobile operator by 2011, an ambition that is unlikely to be achieved if it were to sell off its African businesses.