News
Bank of Khartoum takes control of Canar Telecommunication Company.
Etisalat has completed the sale of its Sudanese business Canar Telecommunication Company, it announced earlier this week.
It offloaded a 92.3% stake in the telco for 349.6 million dirhams (€85 million) to the Bank of Khartoum, which already held a 3.7% stake, it disclosed in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.
The United Arab Emirates-based telco group’s exit from Sudan has not been straightforward.
In May Etisalat agreed to sell its Canar stake to Zain Sudan, the country’s largest mobile operator, for the same sum.
However, just over a month later it revealed that the Bank of Khartoum had exercised its first right of refusal over the shares, effectively voiding the Zain deal.
It has since secured the required regulatory approvals – from the Sudanese National Telecommunications Corporation and various local competition authorities – enabling it to complete the new deal.
Canar offers voice telephony and Internet services to residential and business customers via fixed and wireless local loop infrastructure.
