Ooredoo today announced that it has withdrawn its offer to acquire Vivendi’s 53% shareholding
in Maroc Telecom Group.
Ooredoo made an indicative offer in December 2012 and submitted a fully financed, binding offer on 22 April 2013 which met all the requirements of the process.
Earlier, sources close to the bidding process had revealed that Etisalat had offered a higher bid for Vivendi’s Maroc Telecom stake. However, Ooredoo had made a much simpler offer with minimal conditions and was not been asked by Vivendi to improve its offer. A well-informed source has revealed to the media that talks between Vivendi and Etisalat are advancing well and a final announcement could be made in the coming weeks as Etisalat has agreed to remove some legal conditions that were hampering its bid.
Dr Nasser Marafih, Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Although Maroc Telecom represents a good fit for our global portfolio, it is no longer in the best interests of our shareholders to continue to commit capital to what has become a lengthy process. We are thus withdrawing our offer and we will focus our attention on generating value in other opportunities across our global footprint through organic and acquisitive strategies.”
