Orascom sells Tunisian investment for $1.2bn

Egyptian carrier Orascom Telecom, part of Naguib Sawiris’s Weather Investments portfolio, has offloaded its operation in Tunisia for a total of $1.2bn.

The 50 per cent stake in Orascom Telecom Tunisie was acquired by Wataniya Telecom, a 52.5 per cent subsidiary of Qtel (Qatar Telecom) and local partner the Princesse Holding consortium. As a result of the deal, Qtel now owns 100 per cent of the Tunisian operator and will fully consolidate the business.

According to Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Saud Al-Thani, chairman of the Qtel Group: “”The acquisition is in line with the Qtel Group’s vision for 2020, which aims to position us among the top 20 telecommunications companies in the world, and with our strategy of active portfolio development, through which we may seek to increase our ownership in well performing assets, with further growth potential. We are rightly proud of our record of financially disciplined expansion, and we are pleased to have secured the additional Tunisiana stock at a good price.”

Orascom Telecom Tunisie is the country’s leading operator, with 5.8 million subscribers at the end of September, ahead of 4.4 million for Tunisie Telecom and 438,000 for Orange Tunisie.