France Telecom Buys 40% In Moroccan Meditel

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

CDG (Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion), FinanceCom and France Telecom have signed a memorandum of understanding under which France Telecom will acquire a 40% of Meditel’s capital and voting rights for a sum of €640 million, corresponding to a company value of €2,140 million. On the transaction date, France Telecom will also take over 40% of Meditel’s shareholder accounts, which amounts to around €78 million. France Telecom will consolidate this stake into its accounts by way of global integration from the fiscal year 2015.

Through this partnership, France Telecom intends to leverage its marketing, commercial and technical expertise to contribute to the strategic development of Médi Télécom in value-added sectors such as mobile voice and data communications, content as well as in the B2B market.

Stéphane Richard, France Telecom’s CEO, said: “The acquisition of this stake in Médi Télécom is the first concrete step in our new policy of expansion outside Europe, and contributes to our stated aim of doubling our revenues in Africa and the Middle-East over the next five years. I am delighted to contribute to this strategic partnership, which can only strengthen Médi Télécom’s profile as a dynamic and solid company”.

Meditel is the second largest global telecoms operator in Morocco with licences for fixed, mobile and 3G telephony. Meditel, active since 1999, has over 10 million mobile subscribers and a market share of 37% with sales of over 5.3 billion dirham (465 million euros) in 2009.

The signing of the final documents and the closing of the transaction is expected to take place by the end of 2010. The final closing of the agreement remains conditional to the prior approval of the Moroccan regulatory body (ANRT).