France Telecom is set to sign an agreement to acquire Iraqi mobile operator Korek Telecom tomorrow, reports Dow Jones.
Spokespeople for the two operators were not available for comment by press time.
Last week, Korek’s CEO, Humam Amara, was quoted saying…
France Telecom is set to sign an agreement to acquire Iraqi mobile operator Korek Telecom tomorrow, reports Dow Jones.
Spokespeople for the two operators were not available for comment by press time.
Last week, Korek’s CEO, Humam Amara, was quoted saying that the company was very close to announcing a sale of a 35-39% stake to one of two listed foreign telcos.
The operator is the country’s number three player, having paid US$1.25bn for a licence in 2008.
Speaking to TelecomFinance last week, a spokesperson for France Telecom said: “I can neither confirm nor deny that France Telecom is in negotiations with KorekTelecom about acquiring a stake in its business…However, we [at France Telecom] have stressed that the Middle East and Africa are regions of great interest to our business, and our usual way of entering a new market is either in minority partnership with a local player [Tunisia, Morocco] or buying outright a new licence [Syria].”
France Telecom last week announced an agreement to pay E640m for a 40% stake in Meditel, Morocco’s number two operator. Earlier this year, the operator said it was planning to double its revenue in emerging markets – primarily Africa and the Middle East – in the next five years.
