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France Telecom agrees Mobinil takeover
13 April 2012
France Telecom-Orange to seek approval to buy most of Naguib Sawiris's stake in Egyptian operator for $1.5bn
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Mobinil
Egypt
France Telecom
Orascom
Orange
Sawiris
ECMS
France Telecom-Orange has finalised an agreement to acquire most of its partner’s stake in Egyptian operator Mobinil for €1.5 billion.
The complex deal is with Naguib Sawiris, who controls Orascom Telecom Media and Technology, the minority shareholder in Egyptian Company for Mobile Services, which trades under the name Mobinil. France Telecom and OTMT hold 71.25% and 28.75% stakes respectively in MobiNil, which holds 51.03% of the shares and voting rights in ECMS.
The deal is not related to the 2011 deal which saw VimpelCom buy a controlling stake in the rest of Orascom’s mobile operations. Sawiris kept his stake in Mobinil under separate management.
Under the new deal France Telecom will seek approval from the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority to launch a mandatory public tender offer request to acquire up to 100% of the issued capital of ECMS for the equivalent of $33.43 a share.
Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO of France Telecom said: “To further enhance ECMS's integration in the Egyptian economy, France Telecom-Orange intends to ensure that, if the conditions allow it, up to 15% of ECMS’s shares are held by Egyptian shareholders, whether these are private or public companies, or individual shareholders.”
OTMT will lower its direct shareholding interest in ECMS to 5% of capital and voting rights by tendering a 15% direct stake in ECMS, and is likely to receive about $990 million for the direct and indirect ECMS stake tendered by it.
Consequently, MobiNil will lose its entire stake in ECMS, while OTMT will eventually sell all its MobiNil shares to France Telecom at book value. However, OTMT will remain France Telecom’s strategic Egyptian partner and will keep participating in the management of ECMS. GTB
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