Egypt’s stock exchange has asked Orascom Telecom Media and Technology for more details on a deal for France Telecom to buy out most of OTMT’s stake in telecom operator Mobinil, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the accord, France Telecom will buy the stake held by Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris’ OTMT for LE202.50 per share in Mobinil.
Then it will make a tender offer at the same price to the minority shareholders of the listed portion of Mobinil.
France Telecom was already the biggest shareholder in Mobinil, and Egypt is a key part of its effort to expand in high-growth emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East.
In a statement, the stock exchange requested that OTMT “offer a detailed presentation” in a shareholders meeting on the reasons it rejected a previous offer from France Telecom to buy out its stake in Mobinil at a higher price per share.
That offer was made before OTMT was demerged from Orascom Telecom, most of whose assets were bought by Vimpelcom in a US$6 billion deal last year.
The new price offered by France Telecom is nearly 8.7 percent lower than an initial price set out in Sawiris’ put option, which called for France Telecom to pay LE221.7 per share in September, rising later to LE248.5 per share.
The stock exchange also asked in its statement that OT “hire a financial consultant to offer an evaluation report about the buying offer and then the board of directions will give their opinion about the need and importance of the offer and its impact on the company, its shareholders and workers.”
