Dubai: Egypt's Orascom Telecom is selling its entire 50 per cent stake in its Tunisian subsidiary to Qatar Telecom in a deal worth $1.2 billion (Dh4.4 billion).
The Cairo-based mobile phone giant said the sale of its stake in Orascom Telecom Tunisie is part of its push to strengthen liquidity. It said the deal would be completed in January.
Qatar Telecom, which goes by the name Qtel, said its Wataniya Telecom subsidiary is acquiring the stake in partnership with Princesse Holding of Tun-isia. Qtel's Wataniya division already owns 50 per cent of the Orascom Tele-com Tunisie.
Wataniya will finance its portion of the transaction with a mixture of existing cash and debt, and now will control the board and management of Tunisiana, allowing it to fully consolidate the business.
Shaikh Abdullah Bin Mohammad Bin Saud Al Thani, chairman of the Qtel Group, said: "The acquisition is in line with the Qtel Group's vision for 2020, which aims to position us among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world, and with our strategy of active portfolio development, through which we may seek to increase our ownership in well-performing assets, with further growth potential."
"We are rightly proud of our record of financially disciplined expansion, and we are pleased to have secured the additional Tunisiana stock at a good price."
Tunisiana has over 5.7 million subscribers as of September 30. Orascom and Wataniya Telecom were jointly awarded the licence to manage Tunisia's second GSM mobile operator, Tunisiana, in 2002.
Qtel acquired a majority shareholding in Wataniya Telecom in 2007.
Asset base
"Tunisiana has been an outstanding asset within our portfolio and Tunisiana has been able to establish its position as a leading communications company in Tunisia," he said.
"We have a successful history of working with well established and highly respected local partners, and we are delighted to have entered into partnership with the Princesse Holding consortium, one of Tunisia's blue-chip conglomerates."
With this transaction, Qtel Group consolidates its position as the largest communications group in the Mena region, with nine controlled operations. Qtel has a presence in 17 countries, providing voice and data services to people and businesses, and bringing advanced technology to more than 68 million cust-omers.
Princesse Holding Group is a Tunisian diversified holding company with strategic investments in a variety of growth sectors benefiting from the ongoing development of the Tunisian economy.
The group's existing asset base includes investments in car distribution, cruise tourism, real estate, press, media, financial services and agriculture. The company was founded in 2004 by Tunisian businessman Mohammad Sakher Al Materi and is based in Tunis.
