Egypt to rule on Mobinil

Egypt’s market regulator will rule on Tuesday on an appeal by France Telecom over an offer to buy all outstanding shares in mobile operator Mobinil, Egypt’s Al-Borsa newspaper reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said that France Telecom was seeking to buy the outstanding shares for 237 Egyptian pounds each, significantly lower than what the regulator has previously demanded it pay.

A ruling in France Telecom’s favour could pave the way for the purchase to go through the following day, the newspaper quoted Khaled Serry Seyam, deputy chairman of Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority, as saying.

A spokesman for Egypt’s Capital Market Authority said the authority’s appeal committee would hear the case in a session on Tuesday, but gave no further details.

France Telecom had offered to buy a stake owned by Orascom Telecom in a holding company that owns 51 percent of Mobinil at a higher price of 273 pounds per share.

The Financial Supervisory Authority had ruled earlier that for France Telecom to buy the Orascom Telecom stake, it would also be obliged to bid for all remaining shares in Mobinil at the higher price of 273 pounds.

France Telecom believes it should be able to buy the outstanding shares at the lower price, Al Borsa reported. In addition to its shares in the holding company, OT has a 20 percent direct stake in Mobinil.

Source: Reuters