Collect call to Cairo

2 April 2013 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

The Russian firm is making an opportunistic bid for the Cairo-listed telco, in which it already has a large indirect stake through subsidiary Vimpelcom. If a dispute between Orascom and the Algerian government is resolved soon, the 10 pct premium will look measly.

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Russia’s Altimo has submitted an application to tender an offer for Cairo-listed Orascom Telecom Holding, Egypt’s Financial Supervisory Authority said on March 31. The offer values the firm at 70 cents per share or $3.7 billion.
Altimo owns more than half of Vimpelcom, which in turn owns 52 percent of Orascom. Vimpelcom has said it will not sell its stake under the offer.
If the offer is approved by Egyptian regulators, the price will be converted into Egyptian pounds for locally-held shares based on the official exchange rate two days before the settlement. The Egyptian pound has lost 10 percent of its value since the start of 2013.
Orascom is listed in Cairo but the majority of the company’s share capital is represented by global depositary receipts.
The firm’s business in Algeria, also known as Djezzy, accounts for around 60 percent of Orascom’s EBITDA. Orascom has no material operations in Egypt. The Algerian government has announced its intention to take a controlling stake in Djezzy.
Egypt’s regulator is reviewing Altimo’s tender offer.

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