Qatar Investment Authority will finalise the acquisition of Telecom Egypt’s stake in Vodafone Egypt, which amounts to about 45%, through the Authority’s telecommunications company within two months, sources have told Daily News Egypt.
The sources added that the deal was scheduled to take place during June, after agreeing on the evaluation, but the targeted stake was still under discussion between the two parties, which was the reason behind the delay in implementation. Qatar Investment Authority wanted to acquire Telecom Egypt’s entire share, while the Egyptian government wanted to sell only 25% and retain 20% stake in Vodafone Egypt.
The sources indicated that the negotiations were still ongoing and it was expected that the implementation will take place before the end of next September.
They added that the renewable energy sector in Egypt was on the authority’s radar to invest in it during the coming period, in addition to several other sectors that will come successively.
The market value of Vodafone Egypt currently, according to the sources’ estimates, reaches $3bn, compared to $5bn before the previous flotation. Telecom Egypt’s share in “Vodafone Egypt” currently ranges between $1.2bn to $1.3bn.
It is noteworthy that there were advanced talks conducted by the Qatar Investment Authority last October to buy a 20% stake in Vodafone Egypt, from the share of Telecom Egypt, and Telecom Egypt revealed at the time that it had not received any official offer from any party.
Last December, the Egyptian Exchange announced the implementation of a 55% ownership transfer deal representing Vodafone’s global stake in Vodafone Egypt to the South African Vodacom Company, at a value of approximately EGP 60bn at the time.
