Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) is taking longer to complete a previously announced deal to buy the local landline operator, Etihad Atheeb.
The company announced back in August that it was to buy a majority stake in the landline network, and had set a deadline of the end of this month to secure the regulatory approvals and complete due diligence on the firm.
It has now extended the talks until the end of next January, and the talks are no longer exclusive, allowing a rival bidder to emerge. Bahrain's Batelco owns a 15% stake in the company, but has shied away from buying the entire company in the past.
Etihad Atheeb had itself previously expressed an interest in buying a stake in a mobile network operator, but has posted years of losses and was now seen as a likely target for a buyout by one of the country's mobile networks instead.
Etihad Atheeb Telecom is a joint venture of Atheeb Trading Company, Al-Nahla Trading Company, Bahrain's Batelco and Traco Company. Just under half its shares are listed on the stock exchange, where its shares have been suspended several times over the years due to its ongoing losses.
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