Etisalat targets Morocco in deal worth more than Dh20 billion

Etisalat targets Morocco in deal worth more than Dh20 billion

Etisalat is moving into the Moroccan market buying more than half of Maroc Telecom. Alia Jeiroudi / The National

John Everington

Etisalat has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom from France’s Vivendi in a €4.2 billion (Dh20.81bn) deal.

It brings to a close several months of negotiations between the two parties.

The UAE-based operator announced yesterday it had signed a share purchase agreeement to acquire Vivendi’s stake in the Moroccan operator for a total consideration of €3.9bn, equivalent to 92.6 Moroccan dirhams per share. The agreement between the two parties was signed on Monday.

The consideration to be paid does not include a dividend received by Vivendi from Maroc Telecom in respect of the 2012 financial year.

Etisalat will pay Vivendi the cash value of the 2012 dividend of €300 million at the closing of the deal.

The deal is still subject to conditions, which include securing competition and regulatory approval for the transaction in Morocco, and the execution of a shareholders’ agreement with the Moroccan state, which owns a 30 per cent stake in the operator.

Etisalat has been in exclusive talks with Vivendi over the acquisition of its stake in Maroc Telecom since Qatar’s Ooredoo withdrew from discussions in June.

The Moroccan operator reported revenues of €1.3bn for the first six months of this year. The company also has operations in Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania.

jeverington@thenational.ae