Vivendi in talks to sell stake in Maroc Telecom to Etisalat for $5.54 bn

French telecoms and entertainment major Vivendi SA yesterday said that it had entered into exclusive talks to sell its majority stake in Maroc Telecom to Abu Dhabi's Etisalat for €4.2 billion ($5.54 billion) in cash.

The Paris-based company said in a statement that it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Etisalat to sell its controlling 53 per cent stake in Morocco-based Maroc, and added that the offer values its stake at 92.6 Moroccan dirhams per share or €4.2 billion, including 2012 dividend of €310 million.

''The final agreement is subject to informing and consulting with the French Works Councils and to negotiating agreements between Etisalat and the Moroccan government,'' Vivendi said in the statement.

Vivendi and Etisalat intend to close the transaction before end 2013, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals required both in Morocco and in the countries where Maroc Telecom operates.

Listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange and Euronext Paris, Maroc Telecom, which is 30-per cent owned by the Moroccan government, is the main telecom service provider in Morocco with 33 million subscribers.

Its network covers 97 per cent of the Moroccan population and also has operates in Mali, Gabon, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.

The company offers mobile services under the Jawal, Telmob and Libertis brands, fixed-line telephony services and Internet services under the El Manzil brand, and Internet access services under the Menara brand.

It also provides interconnection services, data-transmission services for businesses, Internet service providers, and other telecom operators.

Maroc Telecom is one of the most profitable phone operators in Africa with 2012 a net profit of $977 million on revenues of $3.7 billion.

Vivendi has been under pressure from activist investor Vincent Bollore to restructure the company by spinning off its entertainment holdings, which include Activision Blizzard and French TV group Canal Plus.

Apart from Maroc Telecom, the French media giant is n the process of selling some assets like its Brazilian telecom unit GVT and Activision Blizzard, the US-based video games company.

 Etisalat is the Middle East's largest telecom company and operates in 15 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, servicing over 100 million customers.

It has a market cap of approximately $22 billion and annual revenues of over $9 billion.