Plans may
have been perfected to dispose the Etisalat operations in the Francophone West
African countries to Maroc Telecom, reports DigitalSENSE Business News.
It was
gathered by DigitalSENSE Business
News correspondent that Etisalat has agreed to sell its operations in
French-speaking West Africa to the Moroccan operator group and process is
currently in place for that acquisition, which will entail Maroc gaining a
majority stake.
DigitalSENSE Business News also
gathered that the share purchase agreement would see Etisalat sell Atlantique
Telecom - its wholly-owned subsidiary which has operations in Benin, Central
African Republic, Gabon, the Ivory Coast, Niger and Togo - to Maroc Telecom.
The businesses being sold provide voice and data services under the Moov brand.
The agreement
further indicated that Prestige Telecom, an Ivory Coast-based company providing
IT services to Etisalat’s operations in the region is included.
The total
value of the agreement for all seven companies was valued at $650 million,
about N101,4 billion.
The agreement
is subject to a number of conditions, including the closing of Etisalat’s
acquisition of the 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom currently held by French
media group Vivendi. Competition and regulatory approvals in the six countries
in which the operations are based are also needed.
The assets
being sold add little to Etisalat’s bottom line but could benefit from the
expertise of Maroc Telecom, which as well as Morocco, has had success with
operations in Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
The purchase
of the Maroc Telecom stake is progressing with Etisalat confirming at the end
of April that it had secured €3.15 billion in financing to help fund the €4.2
billion deal.
Etisalat
group CEO Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar recently said the company plans to continue
to expand its “service offering and geographic footprint” to diversify its
revenue base and “cement our regional leadership position”— with Africa
remaining a strategic region.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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