Government of Sultanate of Oman stops Omantel sale process
Oman’s Ministry of Finance today announced that it has taken the conscious decision to stop the proposed sale of a 25% stake in Omantel to a strategic partner as a result of the current conditions in the global capital markets.
H.E. Darwish Ismail Al Balushi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the Steering Committee overseeing the Omantelstrategic partnership process, said, “Despite the solid progress we have made with the sale process to date, and the continued strong interest shown by the bidders, the unprecedented market volatility and economic conditions that we are seeing globally has led to the Government taking the prudent decision to stop the sale process.”
Omantel has continued to record strong operational and financial performance, with profits for the nine months to 30 September 2008 increasing by 29.6% to RO106.9m compared to RO82.6m recorded during the same period in 2007. Revenues in the quarter grew 16.7% to RO314.5m compared to RO269.5m for the same period last year.
The sale process was launched in July 2008 to find a strategic partner to further strengthen Omantel’s market position and establish Omantel as a world-class provider of telecommunications services both in the Sultanate and internationally.
About Omantel
Omantel is the incumbent telecommunications operator in the Sultanate of Oman and provides a full spectrum of telecom services, including fixed line, mobile and internet services. Omantel is the sole fixed line service provider in Oman, with 270,000 subscribers in 2007, and the market leader in mobile communications in the country, with 1.49m subscribers, representing a 60% market share, in 2007. Omantel has grown strongly between 2005-2007, with subscribers growing by 14% CAGR, revenues by 16% CAGR to US$950m, EBITDA by 21% CAGR to US$502m and Net Income by 29% CAGR to US$293m.
Omantel underwent partial privatisation in 2005 when it was listed on the Muscat Securities Market. The Government currently retains a 70% stake with the remaining 30% publicly listed.
For more information, please visit www.omantel.net.om
