It's a forgotten continent but Africa holds lots of potential. There are opportunities for infrastructure investments. What's more, with the surge in commodities prices, there has been an influx of capital.

We are already seeing some dealmaking: the biggest wireless carrier in Africa, MTN Group, appears to be in talks for a merger with Reliance Communications.

Now there may be another deal. It looks like Telkom (NYSE: TKG), a South African fixed-line operator, is in play. A group of players -- Mvelaphanda Holdings, Och-Ziff Capital Management (NYSE: OZM) and other strategics – are interested in purchasing the company. Although, there is a hitch: Telkom needs to unload its wireless unit, Vodacom Group, which is a joint venture with mighty Vodafone (NYSE: VOD).

And it becomes even more complex as South Africa owns 38.9% of Telkom, which can slow things down. What's more, it will not be easy coming up with an agreeable valuation.

However, investors are optimistic. In Monday's trading, Telkom's shares were up 6.79%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: StatoilHydro, Portugal Telecom and STEC Inc were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) to Hold from Buy after the company cut its production forecast.
  
• Credit Suisse lowered its rating on Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) to Underperform from Outperform on competition concerns.
  
• B. Riley downgraded shares of STEC Inc. (NASDAQ: STEC) to Neutral from Buy on valuation, as they believe the risk/reward is neutral following the recent rally.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Jefferies downgraded Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) to Hold from Buy.
  
• UBS downgraded Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Deutsche Bank lowered Telekom SA (NYSE: TKG) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded Trident Microsystems (NASDAQ: TRID) to Neutral from Buy.