Egyptian regulator gives Orascom a week to disclose full details of Mobinil pact

Egypt’s capital markets regulator has given Orascom Telecom one week to explain why it will get US$300m from France Telecom to bring an end to the two companies’ dispute over the control of Mobinil, the country’s largest mobile phone operator.
In a…

Egypt’s capital markets regulator has given Orascom Telecom one week to explain why it will get US$300m from France Telecom to bring an end to the two companies’ dispute over the control of Mobinil, the country’s largest mobile phone operator.

In a statement on 3 May, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said that Orascom had failed to provide it with enough information to approve the agreement between Orascom and France Telecom – the two largest shareholders in Mobinil.

The EFSA has also given the holders of the 29% stake in Mobinil that is floated on the Egyptian Exchange a week to respond to the new agreement between the two big shareholders.

On 27 April, the two telcos submitted their new agreement to share the ownership of Mobinil to the EFSA for the authority’s approval.

The telcos hope that the agreement will bring an end to their two-and-a-half-year battle for control of Mobinil. The dispute started when Orascom took France Telecom to the International Court of Arbitration; after the court ruled in France Telecom’s favour, the pair continued their battle in Egypt’s courts.

Orascom and France Telecom only sought to make peace with each other when Cairo’s Administrative Court threw out a France Telecom bid to buy out both the minority shareholders and Orascom’s stake in Mobinil on 10 April.

France Telecom has failed to explain why it will pay US$300m to Orascom. The size of France Telecom’s payment to Orascom surprised analysts covering Mobinil.