The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) decided on Sunday to postpone its decision on the acquisition of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) through its subsidiary, Beltone, of CI Capital Investment Bank pending the lawsuit related to the shareholders of both parties.
EFSA stated in a press release that it is awaiting the resolution of the Court of Cassation on the conflict between the Commercial International Bank (CIB) and the shareholders of CI Capital, which is owned by the bank, after Cairo Economic Court ruled in favour of the bank.
The release added that the completion of the deal is tied to resolving violations related to pledges made by the main owner of OTMT, Naguib Sawiris, in 2012. Those violations were revealed during the examination of the deal documents.
Head of the EFSA Sherif Samy said that the authority is reviewing the documentation provided by OTMT on the transfer of ownership of a controlling stake to another shareholder, which obligates Sawiris to make a compulsory tender offer to buy the rest of the shares.
Samy explained that EFSA is only concerned about the violations, which can be solved once the main owner of OTMT calls for reconciliation to exempt the company from submitting the compulsory offer.
The main owner can resort to the court to object to any decisions regarding the deal, Samy said.
