CAIRO: France Telecom said on Sunday it had commitments from shareholders that would let it buy more than 3 percent of Mobinil s share capital at LE 230 ($41) a share, sending the Egyptian firm s stock up 17 percent. Ownership of Mobinil is at the center of a dispute with the other main shareholder, Cairo-based regional mobile operator and market heavyweight Orascom Telecom. France Telecom said in a statement from Paris its wholly owned subsidiary Orange Participations had secured commitments for more than 3 percent of the issued shared capital in Mobinil. In order to comply with Egyptian capital market regulations, Orange Participations has ensured that the implementation of the above arrangements is subject to approval by the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and reiterates its commitment to treat all (Mobinil) shareholders equally, it said. Mobinil declined to comment on the report that sent its shares up 17 percent by to LE 221 by 1021 GMT. A trader said the France Telecom news had pushed the share price higher. Mobinil is 51 percent owned by a holding company in which France Telecom has a 71.25 percent stake and OT has 28.75 percent. In addition, OT has a 20 percent direct stake in Mobinil. That structure gives OT an overall stake of about 35 percent and FT about 36 percent, analysts say. The remaining 29 percent of the group is traded on the Egyptian stock exchange. OT and FT have been at loggerheads over the price the French firm should pay for the outstanding shares since an arbitration court ruled on April 5 that FT should buy OT s stake in the holding company at a price equivalent to 273.26 Egyptian pounds or $49 per share at the time. OT and Egypt s regulator, the CMA, both said this decision obliged FT to offer for the entire company at a equivalent price. FT has said any offer would be voluntary. The CMA, which rejected as too low an earlier FT bid for the minority stake, said last week it had rejected the new obligatory purchase offer as it violated the principle of giving equal opportunity to all shareholders.
