Orascom Telecom is refusing to sell its privately held shares in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services, known as Mobinil, to France Telecom, despite an international arbitration from last April that approved the sale. Orascom holds 28.7 percent of Mobinil.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology affirmed that the government will compel France Telecom to find an Egyptian partner approved by the government in the event of a Mobinil-Orascom breakup.
Mobinil has been established as a result of a partnership between Orascom Telecom and France Telecom. It owns 51 percent of the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services.
Orascom Telecoms expressed in a statement yesterday its concerns that the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) may have issued its judgment in favor of France Telecom on the basis of misinformation.
The EFSA statement said that the difference between Orascom and France Telecom is purely commercial and pertains to their financial interests. It added that the EFASA’s primary duty is to protect share-holders, which the authority says it did when it approved the recent offer to buy 100 percent of Mobinil shares. EFSA said it will not comment on legal issues.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
