Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris' OTMT announced Monday an agreement to sell its stake in MENA Cable to Telecom Egypt's subsidiary Egyptian International Submarine Cables Company (EISCC). EISCC signed a sale and purchase agreement worth $90 million with OTMT for the purchase of its shareholding Mena Cable. The transaction is set to be concluded in 60 days, after the fulfillment of all conditions precedents, a statement by OTMT said. "The decision to divest MENA comes in line with OTMT's strategy in divesting its non-core assets. OTMT intends to utilise the proceeds of the sale in the recently expanded lines of operations being mainly the financial, the real estate, agri- industries, entertainment and the logistics sectors among others," the statement read. OTMT aims to strengthen its profitability position and support its strategy to develop "higher-growth / higher-yield businesses", the company added. Telecom Egypt earlier announced on May 10 that its board of directors approved the acquisition by its subsidiary EISCC with a total enterprise value of $90 million to be financed through a shareholder loan from Telecom Egypt. MENA Cable is licenced in Egypt and Italy to operate a submarine telecommunications system connecting Europe to the Middle East and South East Asia. Telecom Egypt's decision to acquire MENA Cable is one of the most important steps towards implementing its strategic plan to ensure the sustainability of submarine cable revenues and reinforce the contribution of the USD revenue stream, TE chief executive Ahmed El Beheiry said. "The new cable will add to Telecom Egypt's network of submarine cables fortifying TE's network offering to the maximum number of routes between India and Europe as well as add a new gateway to Europe through Italy." Beheiry said.
