Russian investment firm Altimo has failed to acquire an additional stake in Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) after the country’s regulator decided against waving some legal requirements for the purchase.
Subsequently, Altimo’s vice president…
Russian investment firm Altimo has failed to acquire an additional stake in Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) after the country’s regulator decided against waving some legal requirements for the purchase.
Subsequently, Altimo’s vice president Evgeny Dumalkin was quoted as saying that Altimo currently has no plans to launch a new offer for the outstanding shares in the Egyptian operator.
In mid-April, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Altimo had launched its US$0.70 per share offer to acquire the telco, valuing the 48% stake not owned by VimpelCom at US$1.76bn.
The Russian telco, which controls 51.92% of OTH, had previously announced it would not tender its shares. VimpelCom is itself 47.85%-owned by Altimo.
By late May, only 16% of OTH shareholders had agreed to tender their shares, and the offer did therefore fail to get the minimum 26.16% acceptance required for the buyout. Orascom’s board had previously recommended that shareholders do not accept the offer, arguing that US$0.70 per share undervalued the company.
Altimo said in a stock exchange notice at the time that it “would like to proceed with the purchase of those shares tendered and has accordingly applied to the Egyptian Financial Services Authority [EFSA] for consent to proceed”.
However, the EFSA has now rejected Altimo’s attempt to buy the shares tendered, a person with knowledge of the situation told TelecomFinance.
Altimo VP Dumalkin, quoted by Reuters, said there is no plan at the moment to reopen the tender.
Altimo, which is the telecoms investment arm of Russia’s Alfa Group Consortium, hired EFG Hermes as M&A adviser on the transaction. Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom as well as Zulficar & Partners were acting as legal advisers.
Besides Egypt, Orascom operates in Algeria, Burundi, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic, Canada, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
