VODACOM has launched two share repurchase offers aimed at minority shareholders.

The offers are aimed at helping minority shareholders to easily and cost effectively sell their shares at a premium price while helping Vodacom rationalise its large share register.

The repurchase will also reduce the administrative costs to Vodacom associated with servicing about 86000 shareholders owning between one and 500 Vodacom shares.

The shares are estimated to be worth R500million.

The total number of shares belonging to these shareholders constitutes less than one percent of Vodacom shares in issue.

The deadline for submitting forms electing whether to participate or not is March 26.

Shareholders will sell their shares at a premium without having to incur the usual brokerage and transaction fees.

These are shares that were inherited by people who owned Telkom shares when Telkom sold its stake in Vodacom through its unbundling process.

The offer price of R56,61 for the repurchase was calculated using the average traded price on the JSE over the 10 trading days from January 25 to February 5.

At the time the public was invited to buy the Telkom shares a few years ago, some of the shares were as low as R18 a share. But at one stage, these shares appreciated to R100 a share.

Vodacom's chief financial officer Rob Shuter described the repurchase offer as a "win-win scenario".