Orascom planning full takeover of Hutchinson Telecom

Orascom Telecom (LSE: OTLD; CASE: ORTE) CEO Naguib Sawiris of Egypt, is continuing to publicly declare his intention to take over Hutchison Telecom. Speaking at a telecoms conference in Singapore, Sawiris said that he is close to completing a full takeover, or at least acquiring the controlling share in the Hong Kong-based cooperation, which has a controlling interest in Israeli cellular company Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR; LSE:PCCD).
Sawiris claimed that the negotiations between the two sides had reached an advanced stage, although no agreement has as yet been reached on price. Last December the Egyptian company paid $1.3 billion for a 19.3% stake in Hutchison Telecom Media, a member of the Hutchison Whampoa Group which operates out of Hong Kong. The deal was structured to as to ensure that Orascom’s indirect holdings in Partner did not exceed 10%, an increase that would require approval from the Israeli Ministry of Communications.

Orascom intends to increase its stake in Hutchison to 23% from 19.3%, regardless of the current negotiations for the full takeover. Orascom has already applied to the Ministry of Communications for approval to increase its holdings in Partner. However, should Orascom take over Hutchison, it will have to divest its holdings in Partner, or find a way of separating it from Hutchison’s other assets. A full takeover of Hutchison by Orascom would result in an Arab entity gaining the controlling interest in a key Israeli telecommunications company.

Source- http://www.globes.co.il