Vodacom will be added to the JSE Top-40 index of blue chips, the JSE said yesterday.

Vodacom will be added to the JSE Top-40 index of blue chips, the JSE said yesterday.

The JSE said Vodacom, South Africa's largest mobile phone operator, would be added to the Top-40 index on Monday, with more than 525million shares in issue.

It said Telkom, Africa's largest telecoms firm, would remain in the index.

Vodacom is to be floated on the JSE on Monday after joint owner Telkom distributes a 35percent stake to shareholders and finalises a $2,6billion deal to sell a further 15percent to Britain's Vodafone.

The listing, one of the biggest on the Johannesburg bourse in years, will give Vodafone a 65percent stake in Vodacom and end a shareholder pact that restricted it to operations only in southern Africa.

Telkom shareholders will get one Vodacom share per Telkom share, and its biggest investor, the South African government, has vowed to hold a 10percent stake for at least a year. - Reuters