Friday, May 22, 2009

Orascom's Bid for Meditel On Stake As Etisalat Makes Bid Too

Naguib Sawiris, CEO of Orascom Telecom, says the Egyptian company's initial bid for a 32% stake in Moroccan cellco Medi Telecom (Meditel) has been trumped by two other interested parties, reports Reuters. He added that his firm was not willing to raise its bid for the stake being offered for sale by Portugal Telecom (PT), which has been valued at between EUR300 million-EUR400 million (USD414 million-USD552 million).

UAE-based Etisalat last week said it would place a bid for a slice of Morocco's second largest GSM network operator, which is also part-owned by Telefonica. The Spanish telco reportedly did not take up an option of first refusal on PT's stake, and is rumoured to be considering offloading its own 32% holding if a suitable strategic bidder is selected by PT. At least one other major Middle Eastern telco is thought to be interested.

No comments: