CAIRO: Vodafone Egypt and Raya Holding have agreed to increase the capital of Raya Telecom Company by about LE 50 million to LE 211.4 million. Medhat Khalil, chairman of Raya Holding, said during the signature ceremony of the agreement on Vodafone's 51 percent takeover of Raya Telecom that the capital increase aims to expand the scope of the company's services and to finance investment activities in the communication industry. Raya Holding controls 90.63 percent of Raya Telecom which in turn controls the entire shares of Starnet Company, a connectivity service provider in Egypt. Following the takeover deal with Vodafone Egypt, Raya Telecom shareholding structure will be 51 percent for Vodafone Egypt, 45 percent for Raya Holding, 3.3 Percent for Banque Misr and 0.7 percent for retail investors. The managing director of Raya Telecom said the agreement will maintain the right of Raya Holding to sell off its remaining stake to Vodafone Egypt at the same value over two years of signature, noting that both companies agreed on sharing management of Raya Telecom. The chief executive of Vodafone Egypt, Ian Grey said the growth in the Egyptian communication industry has urged his company to form new partnerships in the market. Raya Telecom is a leading Egyptian technology and data transfer company which has been operating in the market since 2001.
