The Moroccan Meditel discuss with Orange
Sunday, August 1st, 2010Orange, the mobile arm of France Telecom, has begun discussions with shareholders Meditel second operator in Morocco, to acquire 40% stake in it, reported Saturday the weekly News.
The French-language magazine said that discussions between Orange and owners Meditel, CDG and FinanceCom, have reached an advanced stage.
He added that the entry of French capital Meditel could cost 650 million euros.
A senior officer Meditel declined any comment.No representative of CDG or FinanceCom was immediately available for comment.
"France Telecom confirms interest in the Moroccan market, but could not say more now," said a Reuters spokesman for France Telecom in Paris.
On the occasion of the presentation of its interim results on Thursday, the operator has reaffirmed willingness to conduct "a policy of selective acquisition primarily aimed at doubling the turnover of the group on three to five years in emerging markets (particularly in Africa and the Middle East).
Meditel, opposite the Moroccan market to the former monopoly Morocco Telecom, Vivendi is a shareholder, and INWIë owned conglomerate ONA, lost last year's two shareholders weight: Spain's Telefonica and Portugal Telecom Portugal .
Their holdings, 32.2% each, were sold to private groups and Moroccan FinanceCom CDG, a public investment holding, to just under 900 million euros.
At the time, and CDG FinanceCom had not excluded the possibility of bringing a new round of shareholder if it would increase the value of Meditel.They also considered an introduction Meditel the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat), unsuccessful candidate for the resumption of the shares of Telefonica and Portugal Telecom, has expressed interest in the Moroccan market.