Algerian government wants to buy Orascom Telecom Alg鲩e

Algeria’s government plans to buy Orascom Telecom Algérie, the local subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, according to Hamid Bessalah, the country’s minister of communications.
Bessalah’s threat to step in and acquire Algeria’s largest mobile phone…

Algeria’s government plans to buy Orascom Telecom Algérie, the local subsidiary of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, according to Hamid Bessalah, the country’s minister of communications.

Bessalah’s threat to step in and acquire Algeria’s largest mobile phone operator endangers Orascom’s plan to sell a stake to South Africa’s MTN in a deal valued at US$9bn by analysts.

Under Algerian law, the state has a right of first refusal every time a foreign investor puts an Algerian asset up for sale.

Any change in the ownership of an Algerian telecoms licence needs the approval of both the Autorité de Régulation et de la Poste et des Télécommunications and the politicians, said Bessalah speaking at a press conference in Algiers on 3 May.

“Naguib Sawiris must break off all his negotiations. It is Orascom Telecom Algérie that has decided to give up its licence because of its internal problems over the ownership of the company,” said Bessalah.

When Bessalah announced that his ministry would exercise its right to block the sale, Sawiris said that he would seek a meeting with Ahmed Ouyahia, Algeria’s prime minister.

The two have yet to agree to a date for their meeting.

Bessalah also told the press conference that Algeria may soon get a fourth mobile phone operator, although he declined to set out a timeframe.

The Algerian state already owns one mobile phone operator – Mobilis – through the state-owned telco Algérie Telecom.