Etisalat, the giant UAE operator, plans to increase its equity stake in its Saudi subsidiary Etihad Etisalat which trades under the name Mobily.
On March 30, Mohammad Hassan Omran, the chairman of Etisalat, said that the parent group would increase its…
Etisalat, the giant UAE operator, plans to increase its equity stake in its Saudi subsidiary Etihad Etisalat which trades under the name Mobily.
On March 30, Mohammad Hassan Omran, the chairman of Etisalat, said that the parent group would increase its existing stake of 27.5%.
However, Omran refused to say how much of Mobily the company planned to buy.
Shuaa Capital, a UAE bank, forecasts that Mobily will take a 32% share of mobile phone revenues in Saudi Arabia in 2010. Its share of revenues will increase unlike that of former monopoly Saudi Telecom, which will see its share of the market squeezed by both Mobily and the local subsidiary of the Kuwaiti telco Zain.
Omran added that he expected Etisalat to stop acquiring companies after the end of this year.
Mobily’s shares have climbed 3% over the last week to finish at SR50.50 (US$13.47).
