South Africa’s Public Investment Fund (PIC) is reportedly planning to sell $280 million worth of Vodacom shares, after it recently acquired a large stake in the operator.

The country’s government sold its 14 per cent stake in Vodacom to PIC at the start of this month, in a deal thought to be worth more than $2 billion, as it attempts to raise money for troubled state power company Eskom.

According to Bloomberg, PIC is now planning to sell 25 million shares, representing approximately 1.7 per cent of the company’s share capital, and appointed Deutsche Bank to lead the transaction.

At yesterday’s market value, 25 million Vodacom shares were worth roughly ZAR3.5 billion ($279 million), which is approximately 10 per cent more than PIC originally paid, reports Reuters. It secured a discount from market value when it struck the deal.

The government considered selling the stake for at least a year, and said it would use the proceeds to finance a $1.9 billion allocation to Eskom.

According to GSMA Intelligence, Vodacom is South Africa’s largest operator and will reach over 35 million connections by the start of next year.