Egypt limits F.Telecom s Mobinil share buy: report Egypt s market regulator will not let France Telecom buy more than 2 percent of Mobinil shares listed on the open market without securing approval from the Capital Market Authority, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. The report followed the French firm s announcement it had secured commitments to buy an additional 3 percent of Mobinil, the latest twist in a row over ownership with Orascom Telecom, the other main Mobinil shareholder. The law does not allow France Telecom to buy more than 2 percent of the shares of ... Mobinil from the free market, the independent Al Masry Al Youm daily quoted a prominent official at the regulator as saying. The source said the regulator, the Capital Market Authority (CMA), had received an official letter from France Telecom on Monday saying it had commitments from shareholders to let it buy the extra shares. The source said the law would only allow France Telecom to buy 2 percent a year without prior clearance. The CMA could not be reached for comment. A Mobinil spokeswoman said the firm had no comment on issues relating to the regulatory authority. France Telecom previously said any deal to buy extra shares would need the regulator s approval. A spokesman for the French firm in Paris said France Telecom hoped for a prompt ruling. He said it was up to the CMA to decide, either approving the deal or rejecting it, provided a rejection is motivated in the framework of Egyptian market regulations . We are waiting for a decision from the CMA and hope it will come soon in the interest of the shareholders who have offered us their shares and (in the interest) of the good functioning of the markets. Mobinil is 51 percent owned by a holding company in which France Telecom has a 71.25 percent stake and Orascom has 28.75 percent. In addition, Orascom holds a 20 percent direct stake. That structure gives Orascom an overall stake of about 35 percent and France Telecom about 36 percent, analysts say. The remaining 29 percent of the group is traded on the Egyptian stock exchange. Mobinil shares gained 0.23 percent to LE 217 by 1020 GMT, and Orascom Telecom shares added 0.64 percent to LE 35.90. Paris-traded France Telecom shares trimmed 0.5 percent to ?16.66 ($23.72). From a more fundamental point of view Mobinil is expensive at these prices, but it has been able to sustain momentum due to a lot of speculation about the deal over the past few weeks, said Delilah Heakal, telecom analyst at Cairo s Pharos Holding. Orascom and France Telecom 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 the French firm should buy Orascom s stake in the holding company at a price equivalent to LE 273.26, $49 per share at the time. Oracom and the CMA both said this decision obliged France Telecom to offer for the entire company at an equivalent price, while France Telecom has said any offer would be voluntary. France Telecom said it had commitments to buy 3 percent of Mobinil at a price of LE 230 ($41) per share. - Reuters Steel, real estate firms help Egypt higher Egypt s main stock index adds 2.73 percent to hit a near 8-month high as steel and construction firms rise on positive regional sentiment and strong global gains, traders say. The index ends up 166 points at 6,255.07 points, its highest close since early October 2008. It had reached as high as 6,305.31 points in intra-day trade. A lot of Gulf Arab investors are buying today in various stocks, in real estate, Ezz and other things, Talaat Moustafa, says Hashem Ghoneim from Pyramids Capital, adding that the rising price of crude was encouraging regional buying. Major steel producer Ezz Steel gains 3.73 percent to LE 12.79 ($2.28) as investors bet demand remains strong and as producers lower prices to compete with Turkish imports. Construction is still booming in Egypt and there is a future in it, Ghoneim added. Ezz Steel is also very cheap ... (and) people are buying in aggressively. Builders also made strong gains, with Talaat Moustafa climbing 12 percent and Sixth October Development and Investment (SODIC) up 5 percent. Market heavyweight Orascom Construction adds 2.7 percent. - Reuters Egypt 7-day deposits average yield steady The average yield at a 7-day deposit auction at the Central Bank of Egypt on Tuesday was 9.531 percent, compared with 9.527 percent at last week s auction, the central bank said. The bank had asked for LE10 billion ($1.78 billion) and received bids for deposits worth LE 15.23 billion. It accepted bids worth LE 14.73 billion at rates between 9.515 percent and 9.54 percent. -Reuters West delta deep marine phase 5 enters operations BG Egypt announced the start of phase 5 of incremental gas production, a compression project in the West Delta Deep Marine Concession (WDDM), according to a statement made by the company. The project, managed by the Joint Operating Company, Burullus Gas Company, includes installation of two onshore gas turbine-driven compression sets, new absorption towers and associated equipment to extend plateau production from WDDM reservoirs. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of phase 5 was carried out by a consortium of Enppi and Petrojet, affiliate companies of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). The project was designed to boost the pressure of processed gas into the gas grid allowing field operations at lower pressures. According to Tim Blackford, president of BG Egypt, This project is part of the continued successful development of the West Delta Deep Marine Concession. This is being managed in a sustained manner to meet domestic and export commitments. BG and partners have been consistent in implementing the original field development plan and ensuring gas deliverability in Egypt s growing hydrocarbon sector. We are very pleased with this latest phase of field development. Phase 5 began in December 2007 with the award of the EPC contract and it took six months from the arrival of the compressors in November 2008 to complete the project ahead of the original sanction schedule. At the peak of construction activity at the WDDM onshore site in Idku, up to 1,000 people were employed on the project.
