Turkey’s Turk Telekom and Turkcell, the UAE’s Etisalat and at least one Chinese company are among those which have expressed interest in acquiring Emirates International Telecommunications’ (EIT’s) 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom.
A spokesperson…
Turkey’s Turk Telekom and Turkcell, the UAE’s Etisalat and at least one Chinese company are among those which have expressed interest in acquiring Emirates International Telecommunications’ (EIT’s) 35% stake in Tunisie Telecom.
A spokesperson for Tunisia’s ministry of information and communication technologies (Mincom) told TelecomFinance that the four companies have all shown interest in buying the entire stake held by EIT, a unit of investment company Dubai Holding.
A Reuters report today quoted an official in the same ministry as saying 13 companies, including six “known international” firms have expressed interest in the stake. These included the four companies above and Korea Telecom, but the others were not named. The ministry spokesperson was able to confirm only that the above four companies have indicated interest.
Turkcell has said it is in the process of evaluating the opportunity to acquire the stake, the report stated, while Turk Telekom and Etisalat have declined to comment.
The report also quoted an unnamed banking source as saying EIT, which bought its stake in the Tunisian incumbent for US$2.25bn in 2006, has hired Credit Suisse to handle the sale.
A Mincom spokesperson confirmed earlier this month that the sales process had been given the green light, but declined to comment further.
Under the agreement signed between EIT – a subsidiary of investment company Dubai Holding – and the state, Tunisia reportedly has the right to choose its new partner in the telco.
