Maroc Telecom to buy over UAE’s Etisalat affiliates in Africa

Morocco’s telecom operator “Maroc Telecom” announced this Monday it has reached an agreement with UAE’s Etisalat to buy over the UAE company’s units in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Niger, Central African Republic and Togo. The USD 650-million deal, which also includes Prestige Telecom in Cote d’Ivoire, which provides IT services to the operations of Etisalat in these countries, will allow Maroc Telecom to take control over Etisalat’s participation in these companies as well as shareholders’ loans. The deal is subject to several conditions, particularly the conclusion of Etisalat’s purchase of Vivendi’s participation in Maroc Telecom and the approval of the nine African countries’ authorities, said Maroc Telecom in a release. Etisalat agreed in November to acquire Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom in the Middle East’s largest takeover of a phone carrier. Maroc Telecom group posted in the first quarter of 2014 a consolidated turnover of 7.2 billion Moroccan DH, a growth of 0.4 pc compared to the same period of 2013. Etisalat had announced a consolidated net profit of 2 billion Emirates Dirhams in the first quarter of 2014, compared to 1.8 billion Emirati dirhams in the same period of 2013.