Etisalat-Maroc deal: “everyone is happy”
Etisalat-Maroc deal: “everyone is happy”
UAE-headquartered Etisalat's planned deal to buy a majority stake in Maroc Telecom will be finalised in 1-2 months, Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs told reporters on Wednesday.
France's Vivendi SA in July entered exclusive talks with Etisalat - the United Arab Emirates No.1 telecom operator - to sell its 53% stake in Maroc Telecom for 4.2 billion euros ($5.54 billion) in cash.
Morocco's government owns 30% of Maroc Telecom, with the remaining 17% publicly traded.
"We have agreed on all main terms and a deal may be finalized in one to two months," Minister Saadeddine Othmani told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.
"Everyone is happy (with the deal)."
He did not provide further details on the deal.
In August, Vivendi's chief financial officer said the company aimed to completed the sale of its Maroc Telecom stake by year-end.
Maroc Telecom offers fixed-line, mobile and Internet services in the kingdom and is one of Africa's biggest telecom firms, with units in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.