By: Internation Herald Eribune
DUBAI: National Mobile Telecommunications, the second-largest Kuwaiti mobile phone operator, may be sold by its controlling shareholders after receiving several approaches.
Kuwait Projects, an investment company with assets of more than $18 billion, is leading a group of National Mobile shareholders with a combined 51 percent stake that will consider offers, Robert Hipkins, a Kuwait Projects spokesman, said during an interview Sunday. Several potential purchasers have expressed interest, he said, declining to identify them.
"It's a question of making sure that the return for the shareholders is maximized," Hipkins said.
National Mobile — known as Wataniya — has a market value of $4.9 billion. It has four million customers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria and the Maldives. The company's 2006 profit increased 39 percent to 73.2 million Kuwaiti dinars, or $252 million, from 52.8 million dinars, a year earlier. Its shares have climbed 31 percent in the past year.
The stock did not trade Sunday because of a public holiday in Kuwait. Executives of Wataniya could not be reached for comment.
Mobile Telecommunication, or MTC, is the largest Kuwaiti mobile phone company.
Emirates Telecommunications — known as Etisalat — is one of several companies that may buy the stake in Wataniya, Mohammed Omran, chief executive of the company, based in Abu Dhabi, said last month.
Arab phone companies are expanding abroad as their home markets mature.
9 bids for Saudi license
The Saudi Arabian telecommunications regulator said that nine groups had submitted bids for the country's third mobile phone license.
Bidders include Orascom Telecom Holding, Oger Telecom in Saudi Arabia and Kingdom Turkcell, a joint venture between the biggest Turkish mobile phone company and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire, the Saudi Arabian Communications and Information Technology Commission said Saturday.
Bids from Samawat-Bharti group, MTN Group, Mobile Telecommunications, Reliance-Al-Rajhi, Tawasul-Digicel and MTNL were also accepted, the regulator said.
The third license could fetch more than $5.3 billion, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported, citing unidentified industry sources.
Etisalat of the United Arab Emirates paid $3.2 billion for the kingdom's second mobile telephone license in 2004.
No comments:
Post a Comment