Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and Qatar Telecom have agreed a neat $1.2bn telecoms deal in Tunisia that offers something to everybody involved, not least the Tunisian authorities who get to see foreign investors putting a chunky price tag on one of the country’s key assets.
Sawiris-controlled Orascom Telecom is selling its 50 per cent stake in Tunisiana, Tunisia’s biggest telecoms company, to QTel and a local partner, Princesse Holding, a conglomerate run by Mohamed Sakher El Materi, the son-in-law of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian president.
Robin Wigglesworth and Andrew England report on ft.com that the deal is the latest move in the consolidation of the Middle East and North African telecoms market as larger groups - mainly state-owned Gulf operators - buy up smaller companies. For example, Etisalat, dominant United Arab Emirates operator, has recently conditionally agreed to buy a controlling stake in Kuwait’s Zain for $11.7bn.
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