(AFP Photo )
Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) SAE has sold its stake and all voting rights in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (Mobinil) to Orange SA, according to an OTMT statement, Monday.
The remaining 5% of OTMT’s shares in Mobinil will be transferred to Orange, whereby OTMT will further give up its voting rights in the company, which are equal to 28.75%.
Mobinil is one of three mobile operators in the country that is listed on the Egyptian stock exchange.
The deal means that Orange will pay an amount of approximately €209.6m to increase its stake in Mobinil, from approximately 94% to approximately 99%.
In 2012, Egyptian Tycoon Naguib Sawiris, OTMT’s Executive chairman and CEO, sold a part of his shares in Mobinil to Orange. The latest deal marks his selling of his last minority stake of 5% in Mobinil.
According to a report by brand finance in October 2014, Mobinil ranked 10th in a list that highlighted the 10 most expensive brands in the field of Arab communications in 2014.
According to the report Mobinil was ranked 212th globally, with a market value of $210m.
In November 2014, managing director of Mobinil, Yves Gauthier said that Mobinil achieves strong profits, and operation costs are increasing at good rates. But debt interest paid by the company continuously diminishes these profits so that the company registers losses in the end, despite its being the second largest supplier of mobile services locally.
He further noted that the company’s revenues reached EGP 7.7bn during the first nine months of 2014, compared to EGP 7.4bn for the same period of 2013.
