Cairo – Mubasher: The board of directors of Telecom Egypt approved a proposal to appoint the consortium comprised of EFG Hermes and Citibank to advise on its investment options regarding its stake in Vodafone Egypt.

“With this strong consortium on our side, Telecom Egypt is very well positioned to ensure that its shareholders gain the maximum benefit out of the opportunities that are currently presented,” the telecom operator’s CEO Adel Hamed said in a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Thursday.

Earlier, sources told Mubasher that Telecom Egypt selected EFG Hermes and Citibank as advisors to study the possible investment options regarding its 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

On 12 February, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) announced receiving a request from Vodafone Egypt consider whether Telecom Egypt (TE) has the right of first refusal to purchase the remaining 55% stake in Vodafone or not.

On 29 January, the Saudi Telecom Company (stc) announced signing a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vodafone to acquire its 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt for $2.392 billion. The deal is expected to close by the end of June 2020.  

It is noteworthy that for the full-year 2019, Telecom Egypt reported net profits of EGP 4.4 billion, up from EGP 3.3 billion a year earlier.