Helios Investment Partners is the latest bidder attempting to buy some or all of the 70 per cent held by the Orange Group in Telkom Kenya, the country’s fixed incumbent and third largest mobile operator.

Orange’s stake has been up for sale for some time, with previous bids having failed, including one from Vietnam’s Viettel Group at the end of 2014.

Helios is thought to be eyeing a 51 per cent stake in Telkom Kenya, with the country’s government retaining a 29 per cent stake and Orange keeping a 20 per cent stake.

The French group has previously said the Kenyan business is under review as part of its strategy of being a top-two player in the markets where it operates.

Telkom Kenya lags rival Airtel and both are significantly adrift of Safaricom, the country’s dominant force in which Vodafone holds a 40 per cent stake.

“France Telecom previously had discussions with a number of buyers, including Viettel, who came up with a lot of demands — some touching on the government — that led to the collapse of the buyout,” said Henry Rotich, the country’s treasury secretary.

“What followed is we asked France Telecom to only bring to us serious investors and, yes, they have told us that Helios is a serious buyer.”

It is unclear whether Orange wants to keep a stake as a technical partner, or whether Helios has its own operator-partner in mind, waiting in the wings.

Helios has a number of investments in Africa’s mobile market, including Helios Towers Africa, which owns towers in Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo-Brazzaville. The investment firm also backs Helios Towers Nigeria.

In addition, the private equity firm is an investor in Wananchi, a triple play operator (broadband, TV and voice) in a number of East African markets, including Kenya. The firm is also backed by Liberty Global and Altice. Helios’ presence as an investor might give a clue about its intentions for Telkom Kenya, if its bid proves successful.

Helios is thought to be close to concluding negotiations with Orange, and then will begin talks with the Kenyan government.

Earlier this year Orange was in positive mood about a turnaround in the Kenyan incumbent’s fortunes. In May 2015, the group said: “Telkom Kenya continued its return to growth in 2014 (five per cent increase in revenue, up to €85 million) by expanding mobile data usage and services to large companies and SMEs”.

Orange credits investments to “improve and expand” its mobile network and renovate its fixed network (migrating from copper to fiber optics).

However, Orange acknowledged: “In light of the difficulties faced in terms of its financial results, the company continued its transformation plan and the streamlining of its cost base to improve its margins.”

Orange is not the first operator to find competing against Safaricom’s market power an uphill battle.