Regions

The discussions regarding the purchase by Etisalat of the 53% shareholdings of Vivendi in Maroc Telecom was extended to the end of October. This extension was confirmed by United Arab Emirates based telecoms firm.

Last July, Vivendi had entered into negotiations with Etisalat for the sale of its majority shareholdings in Maroc Telecom amounting to EUR3.9 billion or USD5.28 billion in cash. The deadline previously set was at September 25. The reason for the extension as well as the proponent of the extension was not mentioned in the statement.

The Kingdom of Morocco owns 30% of Maroc while the remaining 17% was publicly traded. For its part, the Etisalat announcement was a bit cautious, saying that the final agreement needs the 'execution of a shareholder's agreement with the Kingdom of Morocco regarding Maroc Telecom and securing competition and regulatory approavls in Morocco and regulatory approvals in Morocco in addition to certain other jurisdictions in Maroc Telecom's footprint."