Orascom Telecom (OTMT), owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, is committed to confronting all obstacles that it encounters and to work on clearing them to conclude its deal to acquire CI Capital. "OTMT shall continue addressing the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) to inquire about the details of the breach referred to, submit the necessary evidence that OTMT is compliant with the applicable regulations and satisfy any inquiries or requested information if necessary to defend OTMT's viewpoint and its rights and to conclude the execution of the Transaction as soon as possible without any breach to the company and its shareholders' rights." Orascom said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday. Earlier this year, Commercial International Bank (CIB) signed a deal to sell CI Capital to a unit of Sawiris's Orascom Telecom for 924 million Egyptian pounds ($104.06 million). Sawiris said at the time he planned to merge CI Capital with Beltone Financial, which OTMT bought last year, to create one of Egypt's largest investment firms. However, the head of Egypt's market regulatory body said last Wednesday that Beltone Financial's acquisition of CI Capital would be delayed pending resolution of a court case involving shareholders of CI Capital and its parent company. OTMT added in its statement to its Shareholders of the following: 1) OTMT confirms that it has complied with all disclosure requirements, laws and regulations concerning corporate governance. OTMT also confirms that there has not been any breach regarding the undertakings related to the Demerger of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. ("OTH") ("Demerger") stipulated at the beginning of the year 2012. 2) There has not been any change in the ownership of the majority shareholder of OTMT since the ownership of the shares has been transferred to them by Weather Capital S.P.1 which is indirectly owned by Vimplecom, such transfer has been disclosed at the beginning of the year 2012. Moreover, OTMT has complied with the requested disclosures that are released and periodically published (quarterly, semi-annually and annually) on The Egyptian Exchange's ("EGX") screens. 3) The Demerger that resulted in the foundation of OTMT was the first of its kind in EGX's history, by virtue of which OTH was split into two entities, so that the Egyptian assets and other specific assets remain under OTMT. The Demerger has been executed in complete transparency after getting all the necessary approvals including the approval of the EFSA, which had not shown any objection at the time and until the date of requesting the No Objection Certificate. 4) OTMT has completed the transaction of the acquisition of Beltone after getting all the necessary approvals from the EFSA, which has not requested any additional information at the time or mentioned any of the breaches that have been referred to in its note mentioned above. 5) There is no breach to be disclosed or rectified.
