Maroc Telecom (Maroc) would invest 10 billion Moroccan dirhams ($1.2 billion) to upgrade the country’s broadband network, Morocco’s biggest telecoms company said on Wednesday.
Maroc, which is 53
percent owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA and 30 percent owned by
the Moroccan government, said it would invest this money between 2013
and 2015 financial years.
The company will
also invest 4 billion dirhams ($477 million) in other African countries
where it has operations. These countries include Mauritania, Burkina
Faso, Gabon and Mali over the same period.
Maroc Telecom had
already invested 25 billion dirhams ($3 billion) in Morocco, it said in a
statement to the French securities exchange.
The company made
this announcement at the time when Etisalat ETEL.AD, the United Arab
Emirates’ largest telecommunications operator, said it is interested in
buying Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom.
French conglomerate
Vivendi is exploring selling several assets as part of an on-going
strategic review intended to pay down debt, boost a flagging share price
and reduce the group’s exposure to capital-intensive telecom
businesses.
Maroc Telecom, in
which Vivendi first bought a stake in 2001, offers fixed-line, mobile
and internet services in the kingdom, and is also one of Africa’s main
telecom operators.
Qatar Telecom
QTEL.QA, the state-owned operator, has hired J.P. Morgan Chase to advise
it on a potential bid for the stake.
South Korea’s KT
Corp is also said to be considering a bid for the unit, which Vivendi
hopes will fetch 5.5 billion euros ($7.31 billion), two people familiar
with the matter said last month.
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