Orange has exercised a call option that will see it increase its stake in Egyptian mobile operator Mobinil to 99%.
The French telco will buy Orascom Telecom Media and Technology’s (OTMT’s) 5% direct stake in Mobinil for €209.6 million, it announced on Monday. As part of the deal, OTMT will also transfer its 28.75% voting rights in Mobinil’s holding company, which is wholly owned by Orange.
The pair expect to complete the transaction by the end of the current quarter.
Orange gained the call option in question as part of the deal that enabled it to raise its stake in Mobinil to 95% in April 2012. It had t he right to exercise the option in the first two months of the three years 2015-2017.
"Africa and the Middle East is a key part of the Orange group’s development strategy," Orange said in a statement.
"Through this investment, Orange confirms its commitment to the Egyptian market as one of its most important assets in the region and its largest market in terms of customers."
Mobinil had 32.75 million customers at the end of the third quarter of last year, accounting for 18% of the telco’s overall mobile customer base.
