The Egyptian Exchange has suspended trading in Orascom Telecom’s shares after the telco announced it would disclose “crucial information” to the market on 27 April.
Orascom Telecom declined to tell the Cairo-based stock exchange what it planned to…
The Egyptian Exchange has suspended trading in Orascom Telecom’s shares after the telco announced it would disclose “crucial information” to the market on 27 April.
Orascom Telecom declined to tell the Cairo-based stock exchange what it planned to reveal.
However, last week, London-based bankers said that South Africa’s MTN had approached them to raise up to US$5bn to buy some of Orascom’s African assets.
Then, on 23 April, MTN told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange that it had started discussions – with an unnamed party – that “may or may not lead to a transaction”.
Orascom may try to sell its Algerian subsidy, Orascom Telecom Algérie, after the Algerian tax authorities hit the company with a US$597m claim for back taxes in November last year.
The Egyptian operator, which has always denied the tax claim, finished repaying the US$597m bill on 11 April. It could still win a refund if an Algerian appeals court rules against the tax office.
Orascom is least likely to sell its stake in Mobinil, Egypt’s largest mobile phone operator. Last December, Naguib Sawiris, Orascom’s chairman, said that he would sell Mobinil “over my dead body”.
