Egypt’s government is reportedly keen to offload a 10 percent stake in mobile operator Telecom Egypt.
Sources close to the matter told Reuters that the operator is open to the sale, with a potential deal open to both domestic and foreign investors.
Egypt’s government currently owns an 80 percent stake in the operator, with a 10 percent stake estimated to be worth around $148 million.
A potential sale is being managed by local investment banks CI Capital and Ahly Pharos. Reuters notes that one of its sources says that appetite for a deal from foreign investors has so far been low.
Egypt has suffered heavily from the Russian war with Ukraine, with investors withdrawing around $20 billion in foreign capital at the start of the conflict.
It meant that the country is looking to generate sales from some of its state-owned assets, with the country securing a loan of $3 billion after striking an agreement with the International Monetary Fund in December.
The country sold a 20 percent stake in Telecom Egypt back in 2005 as part of an IPO.
Telecom Egypt currently owns a 45 percent stake in rival operator Vodafone Egypt, and is reportedly seeking to sell this stake.
The operator noted its mobile subscriptions grew by 33 percent last year, with 12.48 million on its books by the close of 2022.
Source: datacenterdynamics.com
