BIKYA MASR | Joseph Mayton
France’s Vivendi looking at letting go of Maroc Telecom.
CAIRO: France’s Vivendi is currently investigating a potential sale of its controlling shares in Morocco’s largest telecom operator, reports on Sunday said. The company, which is currently struggling in France to maintain revenue value, said that the sale could raise four billion euros.
According to the company, it is currently in the reviewing stages of the potential share after it saw its share price drop dramatically earlier this year and then its CEO Jean-Bernard Levy quit the company over strategy disagreements.
Although the company has not divulged any information on the potential selling of its Morocco subsidiary, the Financial Times reported that they have solid information that the company is leaning in that direction in order to shore up its losses before the year’s end.
“Vivendi has begun to look at the future of the Moroccan business, according to those people with knowledge of the company’s plans. Three people said that it had begun negotiations with Lazard and Crédit Agricole to hire them to assess a possible sale of its 53 per cent stake in Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s biggest telecom group,” the report said, but details still remain limited on who or where it would sell the stake to.
However, analysts say the sale of Maroc Telecom could affect the company’s standing with shareholders. The Moroccan operator is Vivendi’s second highest revenue earner after French telecom unit SFR, and the company might be looking to hold onto its international operator as it has been reportedly looking for other destinations to enter into.
Vivendi declined to comment when contacted on Monday over the FT report.
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Categories: Latest News, Morocco, North Africa,Tech, Western Europe
Tags: France, Maroc Telecom, Morocco, Telecom,Vivendi
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